Ten PatchBon Confessions
by PatchTheProdigy
Summary: Hey; foolhardy or not, you've gotta give Patch credit. Ten times she's tried confessing to Bon Bon now. Ten times she's failed miserably, and she's pretty sure she flopped on her face about half the time to add insult to injury. (Masqueradeshipping; mostly one-sided. Takes place at different points in the Tales continuity. Series of brief one-shots.)
1. The Plucky, Perky Pony Patch (E02)

Patch was a plucky little pony. Plucky happened to be one of her favorite words; it was a shame that it didn't come up more often in conversation. Plucky. _Plucky. _It was a synonym for brave, and it rolled off of her tongue.

Patch was plucky then, and she prided herself on that. And that morning she was a combination of two of her favorite words: plucky and perky.

Her mother, a brown pony with a pale ginger mane, smiled a bit as her daughter practically bounced down the steps. Knit Knack just smiled further at the joyous look on her face. "What has you so excited today, honey?"

She smiled warmly at her mom. "I'm going to call Bon Bon so we can go roller-skating later. It'll be so much fun!" Her voice just slightly squeaked at the end.

"That sounds like great fun; she should be a good skater. They have a huge roller rink in downtown Mecklenburger."

Patch laughed with mirth. "Yeah, I know, right? It'll be amazing!"

Then she hurriedly bounced into the next room, where the wall phone was. Knit trotted back to the dishes she was putting away, mainly just plates by then, and kept a listening ear open for her daughter's happy voice on the phone.

But a few moments later, when she heard a slightly nervous tone that belonged to her daughter, her ears shot up questioningly. "Hiya Bon Bon! I was just thinkin', because we're such good friends and all, we should go roller skating this afternoon."

Then there was a brief silence in which Patch was given a reply. Knit finished up putting the fresh sponges on the counter by the sink and closed up the dishwasher.

"But wait, can't I at least talk to-"

Knit frowned at the desperation in her voice, and saw Patch hang up the phone dejectedly.

"What did she say? Is everything alright?"

Patch stared blankly into space for a minute, as if processing what had happened. Then she stumbled forward onto her face, groaning into the orange carpet.

Knit's eyes widened in concern as she trotted up to her daughter. "Is everything alright? What happened?"

"Misty said she was sick," Patch replied emptily. "Really sick."

"Oh." By her daughter's tone of voice, her friend could have been diagnosed with a terminal illness. "You can roller-skate with her another day."

"But I wanted to today!" Patch shouted, sniffling. "I really wanted to, and now I can't over some evil sickness!"

"Oh, honey, it's not as bad as all that." Knit pulled her daughter in close. "She'll feel better soon. But she's really lucky to have a friend like you caring so much about her."

Patch looked up at her mom with a watery, tearstained smile. "R-Really?" Again, her voice went up.

"The best," Knit replied, nuzzling her daughter's hair. "Now, what about I make you some cookies and milk? Then we can talk about anything you want to talk about."

"Okay mom." Patch smiled a bit more, rubbing her eyes. "You're the best."

Knit Knack planted a quick kiss on her daughter's head and then got up, trotting back to the kitchen.

It was quite the adventure, raising a little pony like Patch. Not only did she find fun in getting in trouble, but sometimes her emotions could be wild, even if she wasn't a crybaby… especially when it came to ponies she really cared about.

That was why Knit Knack didn't even consider the possibility that, from her little spot on the couch, Patch was blushing softly as she wondered just one thing: _I hope Bon Bon is okay…_


	2. Patch's Panic (E07)

Patch, again, had her favorite words: plucky and perky. Both happened to describe her, and they started with her letter, P, right? Well, her least favorite words were the very _antithesis_ of what she wanted to deal with. Those words were dejection, stress and guilt. Notice the severe lack of Ps there.

That little pony had the latter two in heaping, heaping amounts as she stared at the corner in the back of the van. _This is real… your best friend is about to die. And it's _your _fault…_

Earlier that night, she'd been a plucky, perky party clown, making the partygoers laugh with mirth as she committed criminal acts of stupidity. But then, she'd gotten wind that Bon Bon had run away in tears, and… well, she wanted to run away also. And when she figured out that it was the dark forest, it was clear she had a death wish. The place had so many cliffs with precipitous falls it was impossible not to break your neck if you went at full speed in the middle of the night.

And, from the back of the van, she could tell very well that they were climbing up one sharp incline, as Slice Cake (Bon Bon's mom; she was gold and pink) called out her daughter's name again, sounding more desperate than before.

And Patch frankly couldn't bear it if the next time she'd see Bon Bon was sprawled out under a cliff, or the expression on any one of her friends' faces. She didn't even acknowledge Sweetheart's concerned little nuzzles in her shoulder. _Please, please, PLEASE be okay…_

"I-I see her!" Slice hissed, gripping Cameron's shoulder. "She's running up a cliff!" Patch's ears shot up at the news.

The white pony's eyes narrowed with determination. "Criollo Cliff? Everybody hold on tight!"

Then, the steering wheel was spun in a nearly complete circle as everyone in the van lurched. Patch absently noted the fact that Sweetheart clung to her as she flopped forward on her face. The car swerved madly until it came to an unsteady halt.

Determination crossed Patch's features as she realized that her friend was okay, and as everyone else made their way to the doors of the van to open them, she burst right through them and ran right around the vehicle to face the cliff, her friends following close behind. Bon Bon was a deer caught in headlights on top of the incline, and though she couldn't make out her expressions, she could see her jaw hanging open.

"I-I see her!" Lancer exclaimed, leaping up onto the van's top and onto a nearby cliff. "Bon Bon, come on back… it's us!"

"O-Oh my, I didn't know I was so high up...!"

Cold terror was still frozen in Patch's throat_, _even if her friend wasn't going to jump right of at that moment. "Bon Bon, please come BACK!" Starlight yelled, her voice cracking.

Bon Bon's shifted a bit; into battle stance. Patch was overly conscious of the jagged rocks right below the cliff. "Y-You said I looked dumb! You laughed at me!"

"We didn't laugh at you! We didn't even know you were at the party!" Lancer exclaimed.

_You're right Lancer… They were laughing at _me_..._

Bon Bon pointed an accusing hoof at the group. "But Starlight said my costume was weird, and Patch said that I was the silliest pony at the party!"

_She probably hates me now… _Patch realized, her heart snapping in half. All of a sudden, her other least favorite word, dejected, came to mind. "No I didn't…"

Patch stared upwards, hoping that their eyes connected. Her voice took on an almost pleading tone. "I said _I _was the silliest pony at the party. I work hard at being silly!" She was just glad that blush was part of her costume, because she felt her cheeks warm up at that. How visible was it?

"And it was _Patch's _costume that I said was weird!" Starlight shouted up.

Bon Bon's hoof fell back next to the other ones. "But… But I heard everyone laugh at me when I came into the masquerade…" At least she didn't sound mad… she sounded a lot more confused than mad.

Patch opened her jaws to speak, but a certain adult pony cut across, "We didn't laugh at you Bon Bon." Mr. Cameron and Sweetheart opened the back doors of his car, revealing the huge TV that sat in the back. "And I can prove it!"

Then, the TV turned on, showing the events of earlier. Patch juggling the watermelons with the silliest, simplest happy expression she could bear. And then, all of her friends started saying their lines… but Patch thought a little bit, staring up a bit imploringly at Bon Bon. Her heart pounded as she did, and she was _positive _that her makeup wasn't fully hiding her blush. There was a certain warmth, for lack of a better word, that crept into her chest and made her want to hug her friend and never let go…

Was that gay? It made her _feel _a bit gay... happy, of course. But she was still unsure… she just liked hugs, right?

"Then… you _didn't _laugh at me?" Bon Bon called down. Patch snapped out of her memoir and focused at the task at hoof.

"We'd never laugh at you," Starlight added, a bit of affection in her voice.

Slice Cake spoke up; finally. "Bon Bon, come on down now… everyone loves you!"

"I-I feel silly now! But…" Bon Bon called down. She hyperventilated for a second, as if she just realized her position on the high cliff. "O-Okay, mom… I'm coming!"

Sweet relief came over Patch. Everything was going to be perfectly okay for everyone. And that _included _her.

But then, a few rocks slipped, and there was a sharp cry from the yellow pony above. Patch's heart gave a special leap at Bon Bon stumbled off the cliff… _just barely gripping the side. _The adventurer mouthed along with Slice Cake as she cried, "BON BON!"

A gust of wind came and blew Bon Bon's hat away, almost taking her with it. "HEEEELP!" she screamed.

Patch's hero instincts kicked in as she dashed up to the edge of her little section of the incline, glancing rapidly between the cliff itself, her damsel in distress, and the sharp rocks below. _What to do, what to do…_

She took two hurried steps towards the cliff's incline that had tire marks through it from the reckless driving from earlier, but she sighted Starlight and Lancer rushing up there, the latter swinging his rope around.

What on earth would a future without Bon Bon be like…? No cookies, no hugging her pudgy, adorable complexion…

"I-I can't hold on much longer…"

Patch was snapped back into reality once again, and dashed up as close to Bon Bon as she could get. "BON BON!" Slice Cake shrieked, her voice cracking at the end.

And, all at once, Starlight shouted, "We're coming!" and Lancer's rope tied around Bon Bon's midsection. The two couldn't pull Bon Bon up, and Patch readied herself to run to the rescue, to be the muscle that the group needed, when Lancer exclaimed, "Bon Bon… don't worry… we're going to lower you to the ground now…"

"Okay, okay... I'll hold on."

Patch started as she realized that a small square of ponies that had gathered around her. Sweetheart, Mr. Cameron, and Slice Cake. "Here she comes; everybody get ready," Mr. Cameron told everyone.

Then, warm under her hooves, Bon Bon was officially made safe.

Immediately, Slice Cake pulled her daughter in for a hug. "It's okay, you're alright now!"

Then, by some impulse, Patch grabbed Bon Bon's hoof in hers and hoped and prayed she wasn't visibly blushing as she said, "And… you're with friends, too."

Starlight trotted down, panting a bit. "You alright?"

Bon Bon took the initiative, and gave what could very well have been her first hug to a different pony. It hurt a bit that she wasn't the recipient, but it warmed Patch's heart to be witnessing it. "I am… Thanks to you two."

Patch blinked and glanced up at the cliff, where Lancer was panting and looking down, probably tiredly. _Did… she just thank me…? _She asked herself uncertainly.

Patch let the hug last for another few seconds before she put her hoof on Bon Bon's slightly-twitching, warm shoulder. "Okay, so now what do we do?" she asked the group, glancing around. "I mean… There's still time left 'till the Masquerade's over," she added.

Bon Bon smiled around at the group. "Let's go back and… dance!" Patch's ears flew at that comment. The yellow pony looked right at her and struck a pose as she added, "After all, I want everyone to see my fashion model costume!"

"Alright then, group, into my van!" Mr. Cameron said, pointing at the van and smiling at Slice Cake.

Patch trotted up to the van, putting a forehoof on the tailgate and watching as Clover jumped up from behind Bon Bon and cuddled her around the neck. Bon Bon smiled sweetly and just accepted the embrace as Clover excitedly told her, "I'm so glad you're okay… I can't wait to show you my new dance routine!"

Patch beamed at her two friends for a second before looking into the van. Her happiness turned into an intensive frown. _I can't believe this… I have a crush, don't I? On someone I just met a few months ago. On a girl. On my best friend._

The last part made her grimace more than anything else. It felt great to finally have a crush, she guessed, but… on Bon Bon…?

And, more importantly... _DID SHE JUST ASK ME TO DANCE?!_


	3. Patch's Princely Plan (E09)

_Alright, let's try this again. _Patch took a deep breath and continued her staring at the pony in front of her. _Patch, you have a crush on Bon Bon._

_Crush on Bon Bon… _The little pony shuddered a bit at that. So blunt. So, instead, she called it a _crush on Bon._

…Okay, so that was enough to make her smile. Good thing she could hide the frank phrase with something that reminded her of Doctor Seuss. It made the situation at LEAST a bit less somber in her head. The question was, _how _was she supposed to mention it, or was she supposed to keep a secret? She sucked equally at both…

"Patch?"

The little pony jumped, snapping her gaze away from the floor and at the intervening pony. A pale purple elder stood before her, her gaze stern. "Have you been paying attention?"

Normally, Patch was the type that paid attention but goofed around in class. But when she didn't pay attention, she didn't have any redeeming qualities to keep her out of detention. "Totally," she replied with an uncertain grin. Bon Bon, the pony in front of her, was one of the only ones not watching; she was catching up on her notes, scribbling quickly. At that moment, Patch was too grateful to think about that.

Miss Hackney pointed at the chalkboard, which had some long string of letter and numbers, separated by plus signs and arrows. "Okay then, Patch, why don't you tell me what this chemical equation represents?"

Patch stared at the chalk that Miss Hackney offered her with wide eyes. Then, without thinking, she said, "Why, is your back out today?"

Bright Eyes nearby was one amongst the many students who shook their head. Several classmates let out hushed, "Oohs." Bon Bon had looked up from her work and gave Patch an ugly but at the same time beautiful glare once she turned in her seat.

Miss Hackney was glowering at her. "Did you just call me old?"

"No, not since you started counting backwards." _Why on EARTH did you say that? That was stupid. Why didn't you just say what you were thinking?! _

"Well, Patch, good for you that I can't give you detention."

Patch knew there was a catch. And that she was in big trouble.

"…Because, if I did, it would not be special enough. For creating minor diversions and not paying attention, now, you've spent twenty four hours stuck here. So you'll be helping Mr. Tidwell out in the schoolyard for two hours. If you decide to make trouble out there, then you will be suspended from school for three days."

_The punishment that's reserved for fights… ouch. _"That'd be on your personal record, and I'd hate to see a perfectly good record soiled." Miss Hackney obviously wasn't taking 'no' for an answer.

"Yes Miss Hackney," Patch replied, defeated.

"You a serial clown?"

Patch nodded as she picked up what felt like the fiftieth chip bag that afternoon. "Yeah."

The punishment of two hours was, so far, not so bad. Mr. Tidwell was pretty cool, especially for an old guy. He and Sweetheart were buddies for a reason, and she could clearly see it, because he actually was great company. And the work wasn't tedious, either; she could make fun out of throwing cans in the garbage can. But it was a hot afternoon, where minutes piled on for hours and the heat was so intense that she could feel her brain rotting.

The blue pony smiled at her while he dipped his scrub brush into the soapy water that he had. He was sitting next to an overturned, grime-covered trashcan, and Patch knew exactly what was coming next. She suppressed a shudder at the thought of getting the rotten food of who knew _how _long on her fur coat. It would be stained for a while, and she knew from experience that being stained was never fun.

Mr. Tidwell passed Patch a scrub brush that was moist with the soapy solution, instructing, "Alright, you just take care of the outside. It won't get your pretty brown coat all yucky for your girlfriend."

Patch smiled a bit thankfully. The experience would be unpleasant, even if she hadn't even considered how her friends would want their separation for a while. _Especially because I need to get to telling Bon Bon… _Her eyes widened as she realized what the old stallion said to her. "Girlfriend?!" she all but squeaked out, her face lighting up.

Tidwell chuckled as he crawled half into the garbage container as Patch stared at him slack-jawed. "Yeah, I can tell someone with a crush when I see 'em," he said as he cleaned. "Who's the lucky pony?"

"But… But how did you know it was a girl?!" What if it was obvious to her friends, too?! That would be EMBARRASSING. And then there was the issue of Bon Bon herself, and the guys…

"No need to get all worked up," Tidwell replied into the trash can. "It's just years of experience. Your friends shouldn't be able to tell unless you're too obvious. I'm good for secrets, so you can ask me for advice or who the lucky belle is who gets your attention."

Patch tried her best to ignore the older guy's words as she turned her focus to scrubbing the trashcan, though it was difficult as he continued. "There's no need to be ashamed, you know."

The little pony pointedly ignored the stallion, scrubbing the can so hard that some parts were already relatively shiny. There was _no way _she was talking to Tidwell about that. It was personal.

"Are you trying out for the play that's coming up?" Mr. Tidwell asked, dipping his brush into the bucket of soapy water and returning to his heavy cleaning.

"Play?" Patch found herself echoing back.

Mr. Tidwell took his head out of the trashcan and nodded. "Yeah; Miss Hackney is running the youth play auditions next week. It's outside of school, and I heard it was one of Shakespony's famous works. Might be worth looking into, 'specially for someone who's planning on going into the show business."

Shakespony… he wrote romance a lot, right? And half her friends, herself included, wanted to be in the show biz too, right?

"It's a story about a princess. She ends up saving her prince in the end if I remember correctly."

Suddenly, an idea started brewing up in her mind. What would happen if she, Patch, auditioned, and ended up getting a male role? Girls normally ate up Prince Charmings, and Patch would be lying if she said she wasn't fond of pirates.

Okay… so take it she told all of her friends about the play, and insisted behind Bon Bon's back that she should be the princess to boost her self-esteem. Then they took out any potential princesses so Bon Bon could run around in her dress. Even if the princess did all the action, as the prince, she could be rescued by her, dramatically declare her love (_probably) _and maybe even… steal a kiss.

"When were the auditions again?" Patch asked.

"Next week after Monday… how come?"

'_Cause I'm practicing my already perfect male voice impression, _Patch internally said before giggling madly to herself.

"Get out, there's another play coming up?" Melody exclaimed, stomping her hooves on the table in front of Patch. Their faces were practically touching, the rock star forgot so much about etiquette.

Patch pushed her chair a few inches away from the ice cream table and responded, "Yep. Monday, there's an area-wide audition for ponies who go to public schools to be in it. Something with Shakespony and a heroic princess, or whatever." Though she was trying to play casual, she was anything but neutral about the prospect.

Melody jumped up and down and screamed nearby. Patch couldn't help but snicker a little bit as she gauged her friends' reactions: from neutral to looking like their face was going to be split in half from sheer excitement. Bon Bon was wearing a dreamy look… no doubt thinking of being the star of the play. Classic Bon Bon.

…Yeah, things were gonna be alright for once.

The next day, right after school, the ponies rushed right down to the theater where the play was being held, and Patch was feeling pretty confident about her chances. It turned out that, other than her entourage, there hadn't really been anyone to take a real interest in the play… meaning that her friends were getting the lead parts.

And Patch's audition was to DIE for. She didn't whip out her dude tones yet, but she swung her sword around in her own way, going off of the script. Miss Hackney would be stupid not to choose her out of her friends for the role.

And, though she didn't stay after her audition, things were going perfectly. She'd told Melody in advance about her plan, and she agreed to go for the role of the pirate instead. Clover wasn't much of a concern because, as horrible as it was, there was a jester role, and though she wanted to be the princess, she'd probably trip and fall, anyway.

So, when she got to the paper, she smiled calmly to herself she was more and more horrified as she went down.

Patch was the prince, and Clover wasn't the princess; she was a guard. Starlight was the jester, which left Bon Bon as she was named as the old lady of the play, while Melody was the princess.

"Melody, don't you just feel like the luckiest little pony around?" Bon Bon asked.

"Lucky? No way. It's talent, pure and simple," Melody answered, pride embedded in every syllable.

The irony killed Patch. She TOLD Melody not to take the part, and she DID… and she'd have to confess her love for _her _on stage to thousands of audience members.

…_Man, how did I THINK this was gonna go?_

"Oh great, just what I always wanted to be… a chubby old hag," Bon Bon said, probably jokingly. It got Patch to look away from the board and at her. She _was _disappointed; she was just masking it under a joke, was all.

Then Starlight flung her arm around her shoulders. Bon Bon gave her a slightly affectionate look. "Oh, you'll be great! We all will. Now let's go backstage and see what needs to be done."

…Aaand Miss Perfect just stole her crush away from her.

Right after the others trotted away, Patch flopped forward on her knees and threw back her head, her jaws opening wide. Clover stared at the display with slight confusion.

But, in Patch's imagination land, she was in the middle of a field of snow, screaming, "NOOOOO!" at the very top of her lungs as Starlight snickered deviously and took Bon Bon away.

* * *

Author's Note: This one was tougher to write than the others so far. I honestly debated whether to skip The Play's the Thing, but, well, Patch's expression upon learning the roles in this episode was just priceless.

Anyway, thank you for reading, and I hope to see you around.


	4. Patch's Paradoxical Plot (E10)

What a _loveable _character Patch was. She was, for example, kind enough to give some ponies compliments when they really impressed her. VERY heroic, not fearing sacrifice, and not to mention brave. The epitome of chivalry if there was one. She also brightened up every single room she walked in to, and to top it all off, she was very attractive. An eligible bachelor if there ever was one.

Those things should have been obvious. Especially to Bon Bon. Why WEREN'T they, then? That was the question that had plagued Patch all week, while she isolated herself from her friend a bit to get things straightened up in her mind.

That was what the little pony thought to herself as she trotted into the Rainbow Beauty Salon that morning, greeted by the sight of six little ponies seated in front of the mirrors.

She should have _figured _the group was doing hair. Why else would she be called away from her perfectly pleasant search for buried treasure by Paradise Lake? Patch suppressed a sigh and trotted past the group, trying her best to ignore them (especially a certain yellow pony).

"Sorry, Patch, it looks like you'll have to do your own hair. And we don't have any more chairs, so…"

Patch trotted up to the mirror and, meanwhile, rolled her eyes, though covertly so. No need to start conflict. Her eyes scanned the counter in front of her, and she raised an eyebrow at the lack of visible brushes. "Uh…"

"We only have four brushes," Starlight replied while hiding a grin.

"In a salon of five chairs?" Patch wanted to say, but she kept her muzzle sealed. No, it wasn't worth it. She didn't even care about her appearance that much anyway, so she just looked into the nearest mirror and studied her own facial features.

Her appearance was perfect just the way it was. The gold eyes, the thickish eyebrows (she couldn't tell whether they were indeed thicker than most, they looked pretty much the same as anyone else's) the little ears that gave a little wiggle… _And… the best part… _Patch made a funny face in the mirror and tried her best to keep from chuckling to herself. _Yeah, my face is pretty cool._

She turned around and frowned as she noted Bon Bon, who was doing busy work on Melody's mane whilst concentrating.. _I'm so… obsessive, _she thought on an off-hoof note. While Bon Bon wasn't always on her mind, even away from her, she still thought sometimes. Normally she was just fine hanging around her as a friend, but...

_She loves Ace, _she thought, gloomy and just a bit bitter. _He isn't even nice. He's a jerk. _Patch was aware that it was jealousy speaking to her, but it didn't make it any less frustrating. Ace didn't even _care _about Bon Bon… He only cared about himself. Not Melody either; he just wanted a pretty girl on his arm. And Patch would be remiss (and in the hospital) if she said Melody wasn't pretty.

As she stared at her friend's reflection, she adjusted her hair in the back a bit. _Why doesn't she love _me? _Is she just into jerks?_

"So, girls, heard any… INTRESTING gossip lately?"

The word 'gossip' leapt out at Patch, and it occurred to her somewhere that that was the reason Starlight didn't even bother with the brushes.

And, she appreciated a good laugh from a bit of gossip, so she slid right up to Clover like everyone else when she said that she had a juicy story. "Madame Percheron would have a bow! Count Appleoosa was his name, she has his picture in a frame… I think that they were engaged once years ago!"

Patch climbed up on her hindlegs, and told the group the first thing that came to mind, copying off of Clover's beat, which tapped itself out to a cowbell in her head. "So here's my juicy story, my neighbor dyed her hair. Instead of turning blonde it turned an awful green!"

As she finished, Bon Bon's hoof ran up her side and rested on her shoulder. "I heard her hair fell out in clumps because she came down with the mumps! Now her family's under quarantine!"

It wasn't until Bon Bon removed herself from Patch's side that she realized that their muzzles had been only about an inch apart, and that she'd told a story that Bon Bon was around for. _And she's excellent at rapping too… what the heck are you saying?!_

Patch shook her mane out as Melody told her story."I heard a rumor that Dazzle has a boyfriend. He sings with the Cleveland Bays or so I heard."

_Boyfriend… engagement… mumps… jeez. My mind is in the gutter today._

"Hey, Sweetheart, you didn't tell any stories about _anyone…_" Patch said emphatically.

Sweetheart was quick to reply. "Gee, I don't usually tell stories about people." Clover opened her jaws to speak, but the white pony continued, putting a hoof on her chin and looking up. "There is one about my baby sister, Sugar."

Patch wasn't alone when everyone said, "Yes?"

Sweetheart put her forehooves together. "Well, when she's sleeping, she looks ever so sweet, sucking on her hoof…"

The boringness of the story was tangible. Patch was clearly the only one who was amused by it. Hey, maybe she could spend the day teaching Sweetheart a thing or two about telling a good story…

Melody puffed, obviously not amused. "Sweetheart, is that the juicieststory you got?"

Sweetheart frowned, and put a hoof to her chin. "Well… she's only a _baby…"_

Bright Eyes raised her hoof. "Never mind your sister, Sweetheart. What about Teddy, hm?"

And, with that, the funniest, most devious plan of all came to mind. Making fun of a certain jerk with a Mohawk sounded like a great idea right then, too…

Melody nodded her approval. "Yeah, you know him better than the rest of us, you must have _something _on that bully. She closed her eyes with satisfaction, leaving the perfect entrance to strike.

Patch adjusted her position a bit, so she was facing everyone minus Sweetheart. "Huh, Teddy may be a bully, but he's not really so tough."

Bon Bon frowned and put a hoof on her chin thoughtfully. "He isn't?" she echoed, confusion evident in her tone.

_Oh my gosh, I can so use this. _"No way!" Patch responded emphatically, pointing. "In fact, I'll bet he's such a scaredy cat that, whenever he gets upset or frightened, he has to go home to cuddle with his, ummmm…"

Patch had grabbed the dark blue wig from behind herself and was cuddling it and rocking it like a baby. "Mmm… With his _teddy bear." _She continued rocking it, and all of her friends shared a hearty laugh.

Starlight still had laughter in her voice as she added, "Yeah, but he can't tell anyone."

"Because it would totally trash his reputation as a tough guy!" Melody finished.

Patch tossed the wig back into its exact location. "Pretty good joke, ah Sweetheart?"

Sweetheart was a deer stuck in headlights at that comment. Patch grinned at the discomfort on her friend's face. She just _had _to invite her to go further, didn't she? "Sweetheart… you mean Teddy really _does _have a teddy bear?!" Patch exclaimed, wanting to cackle at the hilarity of the situation.

The white pony's cheeks were the same color as the owner's mane. She shook her head and looked bashful. "I… I promised not to… say anything…"

"Woo-hoo, Teddy really DOES have a teddy bear!" Patch exclaimed with a showy jump in the direction of her friends. It wasn't getting a jab at Teddy that amused her most, it was the fact she looked so _cool _doing it, and just the irony of the whole thing with Sweetheart.

Sweetheart was nearly hyperventilating. "I-I didn't say that!"

Then Patch gripped Starlight's hoof and smirked as she linked hooves with Bright Eyes, who linked hooves with Bon Bon. "Teddy has a teddy bear! Teddy has a teddy bear!" everyone chanted, doing the weird dancey walk Patch had started up.

Aw man, it was great to be a jokester.

"He DOES?!" Patch almost cackled out loud as the irony train accelerated. "UNREAL! Wait'll Lance hears about this!"

"NO, Ace, you CAN'T! This isn't what you think it is, they're only kidding, oh please oh please!"

Ace chuckled. "Later, ladies. The starting gun as sounded, and _I'm _history!" Ace ran out of the room before Sweetheart could do anything.

And it was then that Patch flopped over in the middle of the floor and released her laughter, kicking her legs out blindly as she did so. It was difficult to breathe and tears escaped her closed eyelids. The only thing she could think about was getting enough oxygen in her system. When she finally managed to stop, the first thing she saw was Sweetheart's anxious features.

"C'mon Sweets," Patch replied, standing on twos and putting her arm around her friend's back. "It was only a joke. I bet Teddy'll get a good laugh out of it."

Sweetheart just buried her face in her hooves and let out a sorry groan.

"Hey, I thought that was really cool earlier."

Patch stopped her trot away from the ice cream shop and looked over in slight shock to see Bon Bon standing behind her, a smile on her face. "Oh!" Patch replied. "Um, thanks."

"I had no idea Teddy had a teddy bear," Bon Bon continued as she moved up next to her. "You're so animated when you tell stories, you know that?"

Patch glanced around a bit. "Oh, thanks." Tell the truth, she hardly noticed. It'd come naturally.

Bon Bon smiled a bit nervously. "You're welcome. I'm a bit nervous right now, to be honest."

Patch couldn't help but show her perfectly-brushed teeth as she replied, "Yuh-huh? Why?" _Because I'm here, and you want to impress… me, like I impressed you? Or, better yet, you wanted to say that I was the hottest prince ever? …Maybe because you want me to kiss you?_

"Well, Ace just showed up when I didn't expect it," Bon Bon replied softly, effectively crushing Patch's soul and hopes. "I was so embarrassed, and I thought, because you really looked cool earlier, knowing all that about Teddy, maybe you could give me a bit of advice on how? I think I want to tell him how I feel. OH! And maybe, just possibly, you could help me find a new dress to wear when we go on our date? I'd really appreciate it."

Patch blinked. "So you want me to help confess to Ace."

Bon Bon bowed her head. "Well, if you don't mind, that is…"

"You look adorable as-is," Patch sighed. Then she caught her problem as Bon Bon raised her eyebrow. "Platonically, that is," she added quickly. She didn't even know whether she'd used the word properly, but she seemed to get the point.

"You're sweet," Bon Bon replied with a small smile. "But no. I want Ace to think so. He's handsome."

"Wait, Bon Bon."

The yellow pony blinked at the peach one. "Huh?"

Patch bit her lip. She was gonna do it. She was gonna tell Bon Bon the truth… _or chicken out. _The latter option had its perks, but the former, she was sure, would be better in the long run. Just… maybe not right in the middle of the road. Her Bon would never appreciate that.

"I-I was thinkin', why don't we g-go, uh, to my clubhouse?" she asked, rocking on her hooves. "We could talk."

"But you always say that action is better than words," Bon Bon asked, doubt in her voice.

There was a brief pause in which Patch tried not to look at her friend's skeptical face. An awkward silence unfolded, only broken by the cars that occasionally passed through. _Okay, this is too weird… _"Yeah, you're right," Patch responded, aware of her voice cracking once. "I guess… let's go to the thrift store."

"For a dress _Ace _will see?" Bon Bon questioned.

"Oh. Then… off to the trendy clothes store, I guess."

Bon Bon nodded, finally satisfied. "Thanks."

And, you know, Patch spent the next four hours dealing with Bon Bon's shopping store rituals and finding a dress that actually fit Bon Bon, because if there were sizes eight and ten, Bon Bon was a nine. "Will Ace like this?" Bon Bon had asked at the end, sporting the sparkly, cute green dress.

"I love it," Patch admitted at the end, not mentioning Ace's reaction. Maybe green was his favorite color, but if it wasn't Melody in the dress, it wouldn't matter.

At the end, Patch got paid with a hug, but at the expense of forking seventy two hard-earned jangles over the counter to pay the cashier for the article of clothing.

Seventy jangles hard-earned jangles that were spent trying to help Bon Bon get in Ace's league.

Which she wasn't going to do anyway unless she mutated into Melody.


	5. Bon Bon's Heartache (E12)

Even through her tears, Bon Bon could tell that Patch was mad. Beyond annoyed and right onto anger; no, _outrage. _That edge of venom in her voice was enough to give that away. But she also stomped, her hooves' resonance barely audible above the sound of Teddy yelling down the street. And her shoulders hung forward, her neck hunched backwards. Someone _her _size trying to appear intimidating was quite the sight. But her expression on her face screamed bloody murder as she led Starlight and Bright Eyes in the charge to do… something to the boys running the lemonade stand.

Her heart was broken; absolutely shattered by one of the boys running the lemonade stand.

Ace.

She still didn't comprehend it. Ace was always so nice to her. He offered her cookies, and complimented her, and even helped her study that once. For months before the lemonade stand ever happened, he was nothing but a gentleman. He saved her from Teddy's wrath just yesterday. That particular incident had seemed like the start of a new era; where Ace and she could get started having babies and name them names that combined their interests, like Soccer Cake and Baked Football.

But no. Somehow, he'd manipulated the pony he supposedly loved.

Patch had seen right through the ruse. And when she'd tried to warn her, Bon Bon guiltily remembered yelling at her, calling mean names and hitting her across the cheek. Then Ace came in and joined the party, wrapping his hoof around her shoulder and suggesting ditching her. Of course, Patch got nippy and scared her, so she wasn't very good in her presentation anyway, but Bon would have given anything to go back before the heartbreak.

Bon Bon wiped a few more tears off her cheek, closing her eyes so she could clean them too. Then she opened her eyes slowly and delicately to watch the scene in front of her, though her own thoughts kept on getting in the way.

_I bet she hates me now, _Bon Bon noted, more tears coming out of her eyes as she watched her friend wave her hooves about dramatically as she explained something over the sound of the crowd. While Bon Bon couldn't pick out the words, she could hear the determination in her voice. Occasionally the bookworm and the teacher's pet at her sides added in their own jabs, but it was mainly Patch.

_But if she hates you, why is she defending you?_

Bon Bon whimpered. "I have no idea…"

A hoof snaked around her back, and Bon Bon found herself jumping as she looked over and saw a sad-eyed Clover at her waist. The yellow pony pushed her off, not at all comfortable with the contact. Everyone's eyes were glued to the scene that opened up before them.

Right then, Starlight and Bright Eyes began trotting back in their direction. Bon Bon's frown firmed up when she realized that they didn't look happy. "Those boys aren't listening to reason, so we have to kick this into high gear."

"RIGHT!" Clover, Sweetheart and Melody exclaimed in unison.

Starlight stood on her hind legs, putting one hoof on her hip. She pointed at Clover with her other hoof. "Alright, Clover, you spruce up our sign. Sweetheart, take inventory and go with Patch to get some more lemons, sugar, cups, and don't forget the mint leaves. Bright Eyes, count our money and figure out what we need to do to get _them _out of commission. The girls will rise!"

"RIGHT!"

Things got pretty busy after that. Clover busily painted up the next sign, her tail waving about as she worked. Ace hadn't even spared a glance at the brokenhearted little pony with the purple mane. After she realized that he wasn't going to bother acknowledging her, she buried her face in her hooves and smelled the wood on the lemonade stand, occasionally whimpering.

"Alright, we've got everything!"

Bon Bon stuck her head up at Sweetheart's voice. She was sitting on the front of a big red wooden wagon Bon Bon guessed was Patch's… and it was filled to the brim with crates of lemons. Patch had been pulling it, and at the moment, she, Sweetheart, Melody and Starlight were already getting started stacking the boxes by her side. "Heads up, Bon Bon, you've got some lemonade to make. Melody, you're helping her. We'll unload."

The yellow pony stared at the lemons and gulped. "That's an awful lot of them…"

"Never mind that, Bon Bon. They grabbed the expensive pink sugar balls," Melody said nonchalantly, motioning to a box that'd been dropped off on the counter. "All we gotta do is make some cups, and they'll rush over here in no time."

_I sure hope so..._

"Please squeeze the lemons," Bon Bon said as she inspected the bottle of the sugar packets. A gram of sugar each… Okay, so five or six of the little things would make one good thing of lemonade?

Dumping one of the pink things on her tongue had it dissolving and leaving an explosion of sugary goodness on her tongue. _Definitely five. Lots of flavor._

There were lots of ups and downs when it came to the lemonade business, as Bon Bon quickly learned. At one point, the groups had a war over prices, where they had to lower their price to three cups to the jangle (which Bon Bon didn't understand in the slightest, considering most ponies only bought one, but she digressed) and Bright Eyes had brought out a battery-powered miniature oven, with which Bon Bon made some cinnamon buns, which flew off the shelves at a jangle per bun.

And, by the time she'd made about a hundred cups of lemonade, she'd been getting a bit exhausted. By then, she'd made, what, four hundred cups of lemonade? And then about five dozen cinnamon buns while tasting only one? Oof, she was _tired… _And, check it, there were only about fifty jangles in the cash register!

"Starlight, we're running poor Bon Bon ragged over there." Bon Bon heard Patch's voice, just behind her, talking to the leader of the group.

"Agreed."

_Was I that obvious? _Bon Bon thought as she stirred what felt like the millionth cup and panted heavily. Then she faced the brown boy pony in front of her (his name was Spinner, he was a tentative friend) and said, "One jangle."

He slid the currency across the stand's surface and took his cup of lemonade. Clover watched the transaction (Melody was playing her new song Something About Oranges; Clover was about the third pony who'd helped her there) and, as he walked away, a tan hoof connected with her shoulder. "C'mon, Bon Bon, let's go for a walk. Starlight's taking over for a little bit."

Bon Bon gave her a tired nod before getting out of the crate that had been mercifully provided as a chair. Patch slipped her arm around her shoulders, but Bon Bon was too tired to tell her to keep her hooves off (she was never one for physical contact). And by then she had a massive headache anyway, so she acted sort of like a barrier for all of the noise, so… yeah.

Still. Even if she had to walk with her friend's arm around her back, it was a relief not to deal with those lemons.

Luckily for Bon Bon, Patch led her along to the park, where an empty bench was right at the front of it. Bon Bon all but jumped out of her friend's grip and flopped on it, throwing her head back with a sigh. It felt _good _just to be sitting there.

The yellow pony was minimally surprised when her friend didn't respond, just sitting next to her. Bon Bon noted the close proximity, and the fact that her hooves were folded on her lap. "Thanks."

Patch looked over, her cheeks covered with pink. "Huh? F-For what?"

Bon Bon blinked in confusion for a moment before replying. "For getting me out of there. It's…" she sighed contentedly, "…tough work to make lemonade."

"Oh. Yeah; uh, anytime."

And, it was right then that Bon Bon remembered: that wasn't it… And then the apology. "Also, um, thanks for protecting me earlier."

"Protecting?" Patch's eyes were soft and wide.

"Well, you told A- um, _him_ off," Bon Bon pointed out. She sure she was blushing a bit herself, too. "Um, I don't know what that is, b-but you stood up for me. A-A-And I wanted to say I was sorry for yesterday. Ace really isn't good after all…"

Wow; eight hours after Ace's treachery was revealed, and Bon Bon still found tears in her eyes when she thought of what he did. Hadn't fully registered yet, huh…?

"Duh-Don't worry 'bout me," Patch insisted, her cheeks deepening in shade. "And, uh, Ace… I'm sorry about him. I wish I was wrong."

"No… I'm really sorry, Patch." The yellow pony scooted a bit closer to her friend on the bench, aware that her emotions were getting the best of her. "I shouldn't have even given that a shot, if you knew it wouldn't work."

Suddenly, Bon Bon felt herself being yanked. "Eep!" she exclaimed, her eyes snapping open to see taupe fur at _extremely _close range.

It was then that she realized that Patch had pulled her into an embrace. Her friend's hooves were tucked under her armpits. Her friend nuzzled her hair slowly. "It's fine. That's what friends are for."

For a moment, Bon Bon leaned her head back into the embrace, squeezing her arms to her side so Patch's hooves were lodged deeper in her armpits. She delicately rubbed her eyes against her friend's arm fur, warmth coming from her core and-

Bon Bon froze all movement, her eyes widening as she realized exactly what she was doing. What she was _doing _was cuddling Patch in the middle of a park. Another female. Second, Patch was totally _into _it? Finally, her armpits were starting to smell through the deodorant from that morning, so it was gross that Patch put her hooves there.

_What should I do? _Bon Bon asked herself. _Get out of this, or continue…? _Even if it made her stomach churn, she had to admit that it felt nice…

"I care about you," Patch blurted out.

"I-I care too," Bon Bon responded, at a blank for anything else to say. All that she could think was, _What is going on?!_

But still, for some odd reason, she leaned back into her friend's chest again, resigning to her own desire for closeness. It'd be fine for right then… none of their friends were around to see, after all. And it wasn't like she had any pride left to lose anyway…

Besides, Patch was into it, and disappointing someone was never fun, now was it?

Sorry for the long wait; I've been trying to invest myself in a few longer, deeper Tales stories, and I think I have a winning idea for the Patch/Bon Bon pairing, at least. My goal is to get the next five confessions out by July 7th, though, so stay tuned!


	6. Patch's Pony Opponent (E14)

Patch prided herself on a bunch of different things: her charisma and pure charm, her courage in the face of danger. Her awesome sense of humor. Her ability to make anyone smile.

Her ability to jump out of trees without parachutes.

But if one thing stood out in her mind, it was the fact that she'd finally managed to confess to Bon Bon. Well, she got close. "I care about you" was closer than ending up kissing a different best friend (like she did after a certain plan backfired). Even better than the attempt that ended in the loss of two months' worth of allowance, and that was a pretty darn good try.

But she'd almost legit said, "I love you," and her friend just didn't understand.

Heck. It was fine, because Patch managed to hug and cuddle and nuzzle Bon Bon. And Ace was just a bitter point with her, so she wasn't going to get with him ever.

That just left two ponies in the picture: Patch, and her beautiful, kind, gentle princess Bon Bon. She practically salivated at the chance of being able to run her hoof through her beautiful hair as she kissed her intently…

"Patch?"

Patch jumped like there was no tomorrow. "Huh?!"

Ace was standing in front of her, his green eyes narrowed. "Repeat to me what I just said."

"You scared me!"

Teddy sneered from the other end of the couch. Patch wanted to slap that look off of his face, but she had to stare at Ace in attention, panting just a bit. "What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing!" Patch exclaimed, throwing her hooves out and pushing Ace. When she looked at her best guy friend, she couldn't help but think of the alien practical joke she'd pulled on him. An upgraded version of one her friends had pulled on her when her own pranks got out of hoof. Specifically adjusted to get revenge on Ace for his crimes against Bon Bon.

"Riiiiiiight," Ace replied with a roll of his eyes. "Anyway… We've got a few orders of business, as I was saying."

Patch sat up as Ace walked to the center of the wooden floor... in the center of a circle of boys. Normally the club only had four ponies around; her, Ace, Teddy and Lancer. That day, a whole class of them was in there, hanging on the furniture, on the ground, and against the wall.

"The major point of business today is the upcoming contest at the Rollerama," Ace explained, putting a police officer's cap atop his head. It looked authentic, but then it could have been; his dad was a cop. "The Rollerama skating rink the corner of Red Street and Blue Street. It'll be on Sunday, and you know, we all need to bring partners. Girls!"

Ace pulled a string that was hanging by his head, and a long scroll unfurled from the ceiling. Little sketches of ponies were lining the thing. "What we need to do is choose partners. If you need any help wooing a girl, Patch and I will be here."

Patch noticed that Ace's name was already written under a pink pony with a voluminous blue mane and green eyes. A soccer ball was scrawled next to the microphone with notes and stars that represented her symbol. _Ace and Melody. Of course; good luck._

Unless Ace morphed into Chain Link, he wasn't going with Melody.

"Well, Teddy, who do you want to go with?" Ace asked, a blue, orange and black trio of markers in his hooves.

The Mohawked pony smirked. "Sweetheart. She'll need me if she's gonna be in the contest at all."

As Ace began drawing Teddy next to the representation of Sweetheart, Patch rolled her eyes. _More like he's gonna sit home alone on the day of the-_

Patch's ear twitched at the realization that Sweetheart and Melody's sections were bordering… a certain yellow and purple pony's slot. It was as if fate was daring her to choose her heart's desire…

"Alright, uh, Chase, you next."

A green pony with a black mane who was leaning up against Lancer's favorite blue chair grinned, crossing his forehooves. "I choose Moonbeam."

Patch recognized the name clear as day: Clover's good friend from ballet practice. She hadn't personally met her, but if Clover's stories were anything to go by, she was a great dancer.

Chase was going for blood. She had to watch out there.

"Dandy, we already know who you're going for," Ace said before scrawling a picture of Dandy and his wagon symbol next to Clover. The blue colt blushed and giggled nervously.

Ace pointed to the boy next to him; his best friend, a brown hued boy pony with black eyes. "Now, Spinner, who do you want?"

Patch looked over at the normally talkative guy, who was fiddling with his hooves. Anyone who had him would be lucky; Patch personally knew him, and he was a great guy. Handsome, too. He could probably get any girl he wanted on his arm. "…Bon Bon."

A pair of gold eyes became pinpoints at his declaration. Ace scribbled his symbol and his face in next to Bon Bon's. A blue and green boy sitting next to him called Ferdinand slapped his hoof encouragingly.

…The handsome, sweet, supportive boy wanted to court Bon Bon.

She had a reason to be afraid.

888

"Um… Patch?"

Patch begrudgingly turned around to find herself face-to-face with Spinner and Dandy, both of which were grinning. "We needed some help wooing our partners for the dance," Spinner said. "You're a goddess when it comes to that, so I figured… could you help us? Dandy wants Clover, and I-I want… Bon Bon." He blushed crimson after he said that.

_Oh no… he looks cute like that… _"Just be yourself."

Dandy nodded his head rapidly. "Yes, we already know that, but we need advice to get their attention too."

Cookie was so darn nice and so _sweet _that if he and Bon Bon got in a relationship… they'd get all the way to being an old married couple, Spinner was so agreeable. They also had a bit in common, too. Good looks, a love for cooking… Oh, Dandy and Clover were perfect and Clover had a huge crush on Dandy.

The question was, what was she supposed to do with Spinner? Give him bad advice and watch the flames engulf everything? The problem with that was… well, she actually _liked _Spinner… She was pretty sure she had no chance of getting Bon Bon for the dance, but after that Spinner was gonna stay with her for… a long time. And if the situation with Ace had anything to do with it, Patch would have no say in it.

"Listen," Patch said, taking a step towards the edge of the grass (she'd been walking away from the clubhouse, too concerned about Spinner to do much). "I have a girls' meeting I have to get to," she replied shortly.

She got to walking away, but just then, someone grabbed her tail, and her changing the direction of her head got her to see that it was Spinner.

Having such a grabbable tail had advantages and disadvantages. The first was that, if she ever started plummeting to her death, her tail might get stuck on something, or someone might grab it before it fell. …But it just happened that anyone could grab it at any time.

Patch yanked her hindquarters away from Spinner's reach and got running. Her eyes immediately began scanning the area around her for any escape as she took a sharp right, around an old fence with bushes along it. Spinner and Dandy were chasing after her, most likely going to demand an explanation for why she'd run away.

She was pleased with her chances; she was part of the soccer team, had experience being chased around by furious ponies, and had stamina that only Ace rivaled. She also had about as much brain as the two boys combined, and tons of knowledge of that area of town.

Patch hurtled across the street and took a sharp left turn, diving between the legs of a pony who was carrying a huge box of oranges. He fell over; Patch could hear the sound of the oranges dropping out of the wooden crate and the sound of the man-pony shouting, "Hey, get back over here you insubordinate tom-"

"Lemme help you with that," Patch heard one of the boys say.

The taupe pony grinned to herself as she continued the hurtling dash out of there. She knocked an empty trash can over, causing her to jump like there was no tomorrow and put another burst of speed.

But she almost immediately set her pace back down, looking back and seeing that neither of the boys had thought to separate so they could help and catch her, she stopped dashing after two more blocks and a sharp turn.

She panted slightly from the run. Even though she hadn't reached full-speed, her heart was racing like she'd just run a marathon… Spinner and Dandy had probably taken a wrong turn, or possibly even continued in the wrong direction by then.

"PATCH?"

The taupe pony froze in her tracks as she stared at the pony in front of her. Bon Bon was clutching several magazines to her chest, her light blue eyes wide with disbelief.

"Bon Bon!" Patch scraped her hoof on the concrete for a second, wearing a huge, toothy, exaggerated grin. "Hi!"

"How was the boy club meeting?" Bon Bon asked, looking optimistic for once.

"Fine." Patch froze up; Bon Bon looking actually optimistic? That was strange... "What's going on…?"

Bon Bon threw her head up eagerly. "You wouldn't believe it. Spinner asked me out."

Patch's jaw twitched, and then hung slack. "WHAT?!"

Bon Bon giggled at her friend's reaction. "Of course. He got me flowers and wore this really cute little bowtie. If you hadn't been early to your club meeting, you would have seen it for yourself, Patch. It was romantic, and now I can't wait for the contest."

"Guh…" Patch's knees felt as weak as jelly capsizing under her weight.

Slight splotches of red covered Bon Bon's cheeks. "W-When you said that I should put myself right back up on the market when you took me to the park during that lemonade war… and after that prank... it inspired me."

Patch felt all of the confusion and pain that would have come if an orange hedgehog had hugged her heart. "Good for you…" Patch responded, conscious that tears were bubbling up in her eyes.

"Why are you crying?" Bon Bon asked with a frown. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah… Just proud…" Patch's lower lip bulged out, and tears started rolling down her cheeks.

But she was smart, aware that she was awful at lying. Patch fled before Bon Bon could do anything.

888

Patch had made it an extreme effort _not _to win the Rollerama. Not that she would have won, anyway. Lancer and Bright Eyes, the power couple of the event, had stolen the show with Lancer's private skating lessons from some Olympic skater and Bright Eyes' quick learning from him.

Bright Eyes and Lancer had to lug the thing home. Patch boredly sipped out of her orange soda, her face perched on her hoof as she gazed absently at the glossy metal table in front of her. She was all alone, Buddy, the white and light blue pony who had served as her partner was off, conversing with Chase and Ace excitedly (apparently she had kissed him, and she simply didn't remember it, Patch thought sarcastically).

"Patch?"

The peach colored pony looked gloomily up to see Bon Bon standing there on two hooves. "Do ya mind if I sit here?"

The tomboy sighed. "Go ahead."

Bon Bon pulled the chair out and sat in it.

Patch's heart pounded tiredly. No, she wasn't in the mood for it. She'd been trying her best to get over that crush on Bon Bon for the past few days, but… it wouldn't go away, even if she had zero chances…

"I broke things off with Cook- I-I mean, Spinner."

Patch's ears shot up, and she angled her head more towards Bon Bon. "I mean, he was nice, but… he was boring. He hadn't said a word to me, or played a joke, or anything. Our friendship before was more fun, so we ended on good terms."

"T-That's great. For you, I mean," Patch replied, sitting up straight. She _wasn't _committed to Spinner… didn't like him as a date at least. Because he didn't play a joke or talk…?

Some part of her brain seriously thought that maybe… just _maybe… _Bon Bon had added the joke thing because… she maybe, possibly, considered her for a potential boyfriend…?

Delusional, huh?

"Um, yeah."

Patch chuckled out loud at Bon Bon's practical answer for the question. "Yeah, I think so too."

But some part of her was a fan-girl bursting with glee. Her heart was beating warmly at the thought. _She might… actually like me…_


	7. Patch's Pony Tryst (C212)

_Hm… What to wear…_

Patch looked through her closet with a concentrated frown on her muzzle. One hoof ran along her lower jaw as she stared at the plethora of clothes in front of her. A full hour remained in her schedule, dedicated to finding the perfect hair style and the perfect clothing, after all. This would be such an important day…

"Well, aren'cha supposed to dress up… formally, or something…?" Patch muttered to herself, pulling a black hanger with her favorite formalwear hanging on it. The practical joke suit was probably the most formal thing she had. It was her favorite color; yellow (which, surprisingly, had nothing to do with her crush). And it was unique… it had the pink flower on the shoulder that she could squeeze water with… And she _did _love to wear it, the few times she did get to.

_But what if it weirds her out? _Patch sighed and lowered her eyes. It was the type of thing a groom might wear if he was getting married, and, well, a first 'date' (using the term lightly) was NOT the place to wear such a thing. Hanging the fancy yellow shirt back in the closet, she picked up a pink plaid shirt she had, and raised an eyebrow. Was flannel attractive?

The taupe pony groaned and threw the shirt across the room. "No, that won't cut it. C'mon, Patch, this isn't some _get-together. _It's just a first date. Or… something..."

888

"What, are you serious?!" Starlight hovered over the adventurer pony with a wide grin on her face. Her hat that she was supposed to wear at all times on the job fell to the ground.

Patch shrunk in her bar stool, her face light pink. "Um…"

"And to think that all this time I thought you weren't crushing on anybody!" Starlight exclaimed, throwing her hooves out at Patch and pulling her over the counter she worked behind. "This is great! You finally have a crush!" Starlight squeezed the little pony in her hooves tight.

Patch squirmed around in Starlight's embrace. "Shut up!" she exclaimed. "I never said anything! She's a bit pretty, that's all!"

"Sounds like love to me," Starlight all but yelled, bumping her muzzle to Patch's. "I can't believe I never saw it before! Now that I think of it, it was _so obvious!_"

"Starlight, put me down!" Patch demanded, forcing her muzzle upwards so it didn't touch Starlight's. She kicked out blindly with her hindlegs.

Starlight set her friend down in front of her and put a hoof on the counter next to her. The peach pony dusted herself off with some irritated grumbling. "I can't believe I didn't see it. The way you look at her is just… _crazy! _I'm so happy for you Patch!"

"Shut up. Starlight," the adventurer retorted, blushing and looking down at her hind legs shamefully. "It isn't true."

The apron-wearing pony punched her shoulder. "Yeah right. Seriously though, you and Bon Bon would make the cutest couple in Ponyland. The Practical Joker and the timid baker…" Starlight squealed. "That's amazing!"

Patch rubbed the place where she'd been punched in a self-conscious sort of way. "Keep your voice down, someone else might hear."

"She might like you too," Starlight egged on in a whisper, grinning manically.

"Shut up…"

"You should tell her."

"No!"

"You admit you _love _her?"

"NO!"

Patch threw a flurry of weak punches at Starlight, hoping just to irritate her. But Starlight laughed, her purple eyes shiny. "Chillax, Patch, I won't tell anyone… anyone who won't share the secret!"

Patch swung her hoof back, ready to give Starlight a bloody nose right in the middle of the ice cream shop, but an interruption came in the form of a happy little jingle and a shocked yellow pony exclaiming, "What is going on?"

Because those dumb feelings just _had _to be invoked, Patch lowered herself onto four hooves, staring down at the black and white checkerboard tile floor. "Um, hi."

Starlight smiled, putting a hoof on her hip. "Hey Bon Bon. What can I get you this afternoon?"

"What were you doing?"

Both ponies behind the counter exchanged an awkward glance before Starlight answered, "Just a little misunderstanding."

And, just like that, Starlight was cool-headed. Giving Bon Bon a sideways little grin, she added, "So what can I get you?"

Bon Bon eyed the peach pony of the duo curiously before sitting down at the stool and licking her lips. "I'll take a triple chocolate fudge supreme with extra fudge and strawberries in it! Mmm…"

Starlight nodded. "One triple chocolate fudge supreme with extra fudge and strawberries coming right up!" she declared before going to gather the ingredients.

"Um, are you okay?"

Patch's eyes widened. A giddy feeling overtook her; the normal giddy feeling she got around her yellow friend. "Yeah. You?"

"Um, fine." Bon Bon averted her gaze.

Starlight poked her head over with a complete ice cream, smiling coolly. "I was thinkin', girls, it's been a while since you've hung out together, right?"

Neither Patch nor Bon Bon replied. Starlight smiled a bit coyly as she slid the fudgey ice cream across the counter to Bon Bon, who just stared kind of blankly at Starlight. "In that case, do I have a proposition for _you…_"

888

Basically… Starlight figured it out. _Everything. _All of her feelings for Bon Bon had been snuffed out by the one working the counter at the ice cream parlor.

She was still absolutely _furious _at Starlight… but at the same time permanently indebted to the yellow-maned pony. Besides, the point still stood that she'd made a date. That meant she was going on a date. With _Bon Bon. _The dreamiest pony in existence.

They'd meet up in the Ice Cream Shop, which Starlight would close early, and sit at a table. Starlight would have some food prepared. Starlight teased the one ice cream, two straws idea, and Patch had waved her hooves frantically as she protested the notion.

And the thought of doing that all was just too much. It was exciting; like something right out of a movie.

If everything went as planned that night… _Bon Bon will love me…_

Patch angrily threw a red top hat to the ground. "Too tall!" she shouted. The hat had to be perfect. Bon Bon loved hats. She just had to get the perfect hat on and the rest would fall together.

Once again, she looked to her practical joke suit, and sighed as a daydream overtook her thoughts.

"_Want any more juice, Bon Bon?" A very suave version of herself, dressed in that dapper suit, said, holding a wine bottle full of juice up just slightly._

"_Yes please," Bon Bon replied, lifting up her wine glass. Not a drop spilled as the grape juice poured into it. Candlelight was all that lit the way between them._

"_A bit of entertainment?" Patch purred._

_Bon Bon nodded, and Patch clopped her hooves together._

_Suddenly, Clover danced out from behind a wall, just as elegant as her sister ever was…_

Patch snorted. "You're delusional. Clove isn't that good at dancing, you aren't nearly that suave, and this is an _ice cream parlor _you're going to, not the high-class snobs restaurant. No, more likely was…

_Patch and Bon Bon were rolling around in a field of lilies, their pet alien chasing after them. Bon Bon would end up on top of Patch, but she would be strong enough to handle it on her tough lungs and strong muscles…_

"RAH!" Patch roared, throwing an unsatisfactory baseball cap at the wall. "Just go naked! If you don't, then you'll end up getting naked anyway!"

Patch stood there, hyperventilating for a second. A few moments passed in which Patch stared at her clothes and regained her composure.

"Okay," she said, clapping her hooves together and feeling like a world had been lifted off of her shoulders. "…Now, just to get my mane styled… This'll be casual, right?"

888

"I'm glad we could meet up and chat, Bon Bon," Patch said with a wide grin. "We really don't do this enough; a simple meeting with two friends. No runaway candy truck about it."

"Totally," Bon Bon replied with a slightly self-conscious grin. Then again, about half of the grins she gave _anyone _were self-conscious in nature. At least, pre-masquerade. Lately, Patch couldn't help but notice how many more genuine smiles she managed to get out of her friend. It warmed her heart to the center.

And what was better, the 'date' she'd been worrying herself over turned out to be little more than a friendly get-together. Normally that feeling she had around her crush was a giddy happiness. It was just when she was _faced _with said crush that she ended up being shy.

But Patch could tell that, since the constant crying when she'd just arrived in Ponyland, she was letting herself become comfortable. That was what made Patch so eager to be around her, and maybe what had her so eager to get closer to her.

"So, that was some big scare the other week, huh?"

Bon Bon's eyes grew wide and timid. "Which big scare?"

Patch chewed a spoonful of the mini-banana split Starlight had given her as she thought of the incident on the hot air balloon no more than ten days ago. Her friend had such a panic the rest of that day that, even after Miss Hackney changed the lesson they were learning that say, Bon Bon had to go home. It'd been another day after that that Bon Bon had apparently been too terrified to get out of bed.

All because she'd wanted to take Bon Bon on a joyride. And to have been able to confess to her on the hot air balloon.

Neither happened.

"The one with the wedding," Patch quickly added. "You really saved the day there, you know that?"

"Yuh-yeah." Bon Bon sighed. "Yeah. I guess I did."

"If it weren't for you bravely diving in the cake, Meadowlark and Chavyl might not have gotten married, and, er, Clover would have gotten in trouble."

Even taking on a casual tone, Patch noted with dismay that Bon Bon still had that paranoid look on her face. As such, she sighed. "Bon Bon, I learned my lesson, okay? Don't drag your friends onto hot air balloons."

"I-It wasn't the first time…" Bon Bon muttered.

"I WON'T take you on more adventures," Patch responded. "If it bugs you."

Bon Bon gave a definite nod. "Please don't," she agreed. Her muscles that Patch hadn't realized had tensed up loosened. "That'd make things a lot easier."

Her beautiful light blue eyes narrowed, and Bon Bon's smile turned into a competitive smirk. "What do you say to a banana split eating contest?"

Patch gave her friend a determined face in response. "Care to make it interesting? Whoever finishes first gets an… um…"

"Shoulder rub?" Bon Bon suggested.

"You're on." Raising her voice, Patch added, "Starlight, we need two medium banana splits."

The pink pony, who'd been sweeping, smiled and winked. "Totally, girls. Just give me a second."

Bon Bon pushed her hooves together in such a way that a loud cracking sound sounded from them. "I hope you give good shoulder rubs," she said with a cocky grin.

Patch laughed. "I hope the same for you, Bon Bon."

Actually, it would be _great _to have Bon Bon's hooves up her shoulders. Just sayin'.

Shortly later, Starlight came by with both of their ice creams, which were piled high in little bowls. Both girls clutched their spoons in their hooves.

"On the count of three," Starlight announced, pulling a whistle out of her apron (for some reason she kept one with her).

"One…" Patch's hoof tensed on her spoon.

"Two…" Bon Bon licked her lips hungrily.

"Three!"

888

"BUUUURAPPP!"

Patch stopped eating midbite as she looked over at Bon Bon. She'd pulled out a toothpick and was sassily picking at her teeth with it. Chocolate covered her muzzle.

The taupe pony's jaw hung limply. "What- I didn't even finish half! And that burp… that was AT LEAST a six out of ten!"

"A six?" Bon Bon retorted challengingly. "Could you do better?"

Patch gulped in a huge pocket of air, and retorted with a rather-pathetic little burp noice.

"No offense, Patch, but that's the weakest burp I've ever heard!" Bon Bon exclaimed, patting her stomach and laughing.

"I haven't had soda in days!" Patch complained, sticking her tongue out. "You should see me then."

Bon Bon threw her little toothpick to the ground. "Seriously, though… Mmm, this banana split was just too wonderful." She sighed and leaned back in her chair, patting her stomach. "I don't even think I'll be able to eat any supper!"

Patch smirked, laying her right hoof out on the table so Bon Bon could hold it. "Bon Bon, just look at your belly." She caught the Secret Cupid herself's eyes and winked. Starlight's purple eyes lit up, and she rushed out of the kitchen. That was the signal for _bring in the huger sundae. _"It's getting bigger and bigger every day." Patch giggled at her own comment.

She shut her eyes she was so into giggling about it, and she laid her cheek down on the table. But when she looked up, she noticed Bon Bon staring at her stomach helplessly. "Um… Bons…?"

"I-I'd better get home," Bon Bon stammered, blushing a deep red color. She climbed off of her stool and gave Patch a hurt look, then trotted out.

"Bon Bon, wait!" Patch exclaimed, throwing her hoof out at her friend. "I-I didn't mean it like that! Big bellies are the cushiest. I was kidding!"

Bon Bon, standing at the door, glanced back, a deep frown on her face under her blush. Then she walked out without another word.

When the door shut behind her with a loud jingle from the bell, Patch considered jumping up and running after her… But she couldn't.

She'd totally ruined the date.

Starlight frowned when she came out with a huge ice cream. "Hey, where's Bon Bon?"

Patch threw her face down on the table, hurting her nose in the process but not caring very much. "I ruined it. She ran out."

Even though she cursed herself for hurting her friend's feelings… she found comfort in knowing that Bon Bon would forget about it tomorrow.

Right?

888

…For the record, Patch is WRONG to the fifth power. This confession was based off of the first page of My Little Pony issue 212, Hungry Bon Bon. And, because I don't like being predictable, I'm cutting out both Up, Up and Away and Sister of the Bride.


	8. Patch's Pleasantness Pursuit (E22)

_Today's the day. _That was what Patch kept on assuring herself, staring at her awesome yellow-hued friend. _Today you'll finally get over this dumb masquerade and tell her. No symbolism, no phones, no boys…_

Patch glanced at the purple and yellow flower in her hoof one more time, frowning skeptically at it. "Just gotta look as adorable as possible. Then maybe she _will _go with me."

Her thoughts went back to the conversation she'd had with Melody earlier that week; back when she'd attempted saying it straight but ended up telling the rock star instead. Melody insisted that she'd already known and had known all along, but she was still surprised as she suggested expounding her cute side.

All she had to do was get out of the bush she was hiding in and actually _apply _that advice to the happy little filly with the green frog. Seeing Bon Bon laugh and play with the little amphibian in the springtime meadow was adorableness squared; adorableness2.

But her yellow friend was already the embodiment of cute, in her opinion, thanks to her eagerness to please, and her smelling like cookies and candy, and her apologies, and that way her hips just…

Something suddenly landed on Patch's head. She picked it off and stared at it questioningly. "Gribet."

Patch stared dumbly at the frog, Spot, and opened her mouth to question him… but she ended up getting tackled by 125% her weight in pure adorable.

"AGH!" The adventurer exclaimed in surprise as she tumbled over and on to her back.

Something (or, rather, _someone_) was weighing down on her lungs, muzzle and body.

The adventurer found herself blushing profusely at the contact between her and Bon Bon's muzzles. Patch squeaked out in surprise at the position of being stuck staring into her friend's sky blue eyes. Then she glanced to her side and spotted a certain amphibian eat a purple and yellow flower…

So it was not only her lungs that were being crushed: it was her feelings too.

"Ohmygosh, Patch, I'm so sorry!" Bon Bon exclaimed, getting off of her friend's face and blushing red. "I-I didn't mean to… I just didn't see you there!"

Then her friend finally realized her own weight was crushing Patch's lungs. She stood up on all fours and blushed even more liberally. "Oh my goodness, I really didn't see you there… I didn't mean to crush your internal organs!"

Patch took a deep breath to restore her oxygen levels and then her jaw went agape at the sight of her friend. "Hunh?"

She'd made that unattractive sound when she noticed that her flower had somehow miraculously landed behind Bon Bon's ear. "Y-Your ear!"

Bon Bon glanced up at the yellow and purple flower in behind her ear. Within about a minute of inspecting it, she went from totally uneasy to slightly less embarrassed but with a bit of self-consciousness mixed in. _Was that contradictory? _Patch thought fleetingly. "Oh! Um…haha." Bon Bon smiled in that self-conscious way that Patch melted a bit at. "Purple is, um, my favorite."

Then she cowered backwards, frowning. "Oh… is this flower for someone else? I- I'd hate to steal it if it was."

Patch propped herself into a sitting position, blushing more profusely than ever. "Oh! Um." _Are you gonna tell the truth or what _was the thing that the frustrated part of her mind growled before it went back to watching Secret Squirrel reruns and eating chips.

_Take it slowly, _the romantic part of her brain that only came out when she was talking to Bon Bon advised sagely.

Patch gulped. _Keep it together, you goof..._

So, it was after great hesitation that Patch responded. "A-Actually, it looks, um… What I mean to say is… I l-like how it goes with your b-beaut… uh bontifu- bountiful… purple hair." Patch finished lamely, clenching her eyes shut and flinching at her own indecisiveness. She sure as sugar wouldn't think anyone who stuttered quite like that as _cute…_

"Oh. Um, thank you." Bon Bon sat on her haunches. "W-Who was this for again? I think this is a really sweet gesture." There was a brief pause. "The one who's getting it is really lucky," she added in a more defeated voice.

That jolted Patch to her own haunch sitting, her eyes opening to see Bon Bon averting her gaze.

"UM… ah..." Patch scratched the back of her head. Lucky? That was comforting. With a slight grin, she replied. "Well, tell the truth, I- I thought it would go with your, um… your eyes."

The statement made their eyes meet. Bon Bon's mouth's corners turned up in a hopeful grin where Patch's became an alarmed frown. "Y-You really mean it?" she questioned in a whisper.

Patch gulped and shrugged. Just looking into those clear blue eyes just jarred Patch's stomach in all the wrong ways.

The time was right. All of the planets were aligned perfectly. Patch was gonna do it for once. For real. With _no interruptions._

"Um, Bon Bon…?"

"Yes?"

Patch was so pink you might have thought she'd been holding her breath for an hour. "If you don't mind… I have something to tell you."

Bon Bon's eyes were glistening with unshed tears. The adventurer could tell joyful tears when she saw them. "Yes, Patch…?" her friend asked expectantly.

The idea that Bon Bon was excited for her confession served as the last egg that Patch needed before seizing her hidden fruit and eating it. "What I was wondering was if… _if…_"

Suddenly Spot bounced onto Bon Bon's head and stared at Patch with an on-tenterhooks expression on his face too. He licked his lips with his tongue.

Patch frowned and stared at the creature in shock. "Uh…"

The idea of Spot watching her dramatic confession of love was unsettling. It made her blood go cold. He was so smart that it was practically like having Miss Hackney or something watching! She glanced around quickly to make sure that wasn't the case.

After staring at Spot for another second, Patch gave him an infuriated look that just screamed, _is now the time_?

And the taupe pony could have sworn that he raised his eyebrows twice in a suggestive way. Just to confirm her suspicions, she saw him make a kissy motion with his mouth.

_That frog…!_

"W-What do you mean?"

Oh. She'd said that out loud, hadn't she?

That wasn't even a question.

Patch looked into Bon Bon's eyes to see hurt and suddenly sad, heartbroken tears. "Bon Bon, you aren't gonna believe this, but… Spot is on to us."

"You can't take anything seriously, can you?" Bon Bon accused, though Patch could hear the hurt very evidently in her voice.

Patch reached a hoof over to her shoulder and almost sniffled herself. "Bon Bon…"

The yellow pony slapped her hoof away. "We'll continue this at a later date," Bon Bon exclaimed, pointing her hoof a touch dramatically. "When you can take something seriously!"

Then Bon Bon ran away and made Patch harden on the inside.

She glared at Spot, who'd hopped off her head and sat on the ground. "Spot, I could hate you, because you just ruined _everything _I've been fighting for since school started…"

Seriously, that'd been the very closest she'd been to being able to get her thoughts across. There was no way Bon Bon didn't know, unless she was stupid (and Patch could attest otherwise). She knew she should have just been herself…

Then she sighed. "…But you're still the coolest frog around." The dumb plot was bound to fail anyway. Not being herself was, again, an awful idea.

"Gribet."


	9. Patch's Jealousy (E23)

Patch couldn't stop thinking about confessing. It was like a splinter in her hoof that hurt like heck, but she couldn't pull it out; every time she tried, it just got lodged deeper in her and hurt her more. She had to walk on eggshells to keep from pushing it further in.

And, if she wasn't careful, she knew she was ready to blab about her feelings, ready or not. Every time she was around her mellow yellow friend, she wanted to declare her love, whether or not it was just between the two of them. It would have been that way whether or not it was a terrible secret; Patch just wasn't a secretive pony by nature.

The peach pony would also admit she had great spy instincts. Bright Eyes, Melody and Bon Bon in particular were vocal about how they were part of some _stalker complex _she had. Hah! Redonkulous. She just liked eavesdropping and spying on ponies she cared about.

That was what she thought as she sat in the top of the tree with her adventure pack slung over her shoulder and her binoculars at her eyes. Amongst the thick foliage of the oak tree in the front of the school, she watched intently as Bon Bon made her way up, one hoof in front of the other and her long, strong neck slouching under the weight of her satchel.

A girlish sigh escaped her muzzle as she imagined nuzzling that neck. Fangirlish glee whipped her insides as she thought of her friend opening up to her, and nobody else. She'd confess soon, whether she liked it or not. Things would be too awkward if she didn't do it soon. Maybe in the next week or so.

888

"Hey, what gives?!

Patch ignored the blue-colored boy pony with the Mohawk as she threw the blue cushions off of the couch in the boys' clubhouse in a later but still connected event. "Ace, stop her!" Teddy commanded, sitting on the other cushion and glaring at the peach pony.

"Yeah, Patch, stop messing up the clubhouse," Ace snapped, adding to Teddy's protest. "This place is hard to keep clean."

Patch could hear them, but continued ignoring them as she unzipped the zipper on the cushion and ran her hoof through its insides, feeling for any hard squares that could even remotely resembled the hard square she was looking for.

"Grot," Teddy yelled.

Patch let the insult roll off of her back as she continued in her search. Jumping away from the cushion, she instead forced her forehooves behind the couch and started shoving it to the best of her ability.

"You're being unreasonable," Ace snapped in a disdainful tone. "What are you looking for in here? I probably know about it."

_Possibly,_ Patch admitted internally. But Ace was one insightful guy. If she mentioned what I was she was looking for, then there was that chance that the soccer guy would see right through her feelings. Because the very important object she was looking for was Bon Bon's diary.

It'd gone missing. It was gone. In the wrong hooves. Heavens forbid, stolen. And she was deeply upset by the development. Patch clearly remembered her friend reminiscing about her time in Mecklenburger, where Bon Bon's only safe place was her red leather-covered book. And that was only because she kept it in behind the cheese, which her dastardly bullies would have stolen had they not been terribly allergic to cheese.

As a matter of fact, she was almost as distressed as she was on that masquerade night all those nights ago.

Before Patch was forced to respond, she fled the boys' clubhouse, her dusty pink tail trailing behind her.

…Then she took a twenty foot plunge into a mud puddle because she forgot to take the latter in her haste. Internally cursing, Patch didn't even bother dusting herself off before she got running again.

Patch leapt right over a river and dug her hoof into the moist earth by its bank. She stared at the hot pink pony in front of her with determination in her eyes. "Is it here?"

Melody turned around from the tree stump she'd been searching in. Her jaws dropped and her green eyes went wide. "How did you…"

"What?"

"You just jumped across a river, Patch. That's, like, four yards."

Patch froze, her eyes wandering back to the river's width. Indeed, it _was _twelve feet wide. And, well… she was no taller than four at the shoulder. She'd never jumped more than seven from a flat surface before. "Huh."

Suddenly, Melody's look of shocked amazement turned into a smirk. "Really enthusiastic about this 'finding Bon Bon's diary' business, ah?"

Patch lifted one of her forehooves off of the ground, staring at Melody with amazement. A slight blush developed on her cheeks as she realized what her friend had meant. "Hey! I'd do it for any of you!" Patch exclaimed.

The rock star rolled her eyes. "No doubt about that. Where have you looked, Casanova?"

Patch punched her friend's shoulder. "Shut up!"

"I've had no luck around here. I already checked the river up to the Meadowsweet farm. I've lifted up every rock." Melody motioned towards the rocks that had been flipped on their sides all around the river. "See?"

"I've already been to the boys' clubhouse and the tea club clubhouse. Logan said he hasn't seen a red book around." Residual annoyance still existed in her look.

"Corn boy says the same. Clover is already looking in the south, all the way down to the charted part of the Old Woods."

"Who is checking where, anyway?" Patch tilted her head just slightly.

Melody took a second to think before replying. "Sweets checked the Rollerama, that other roller-skate place on Main Street and the sweet shop Bon Bon goes to all the time. Starlight is probably finished up at the schoolhouse by now and at the ice cream shop. Bright and I already got the library, and now she and Clo are checking out the old woods. Sweet and I were gonna check out the soccer field later. Not sure where Bon Bon's been this whole time."

Patch couldn't keep back a pang of sympathy for the yellow pony. She was probably in a panic by then… "Anyone checked the Jazzercise Gym?"

"No clue."

Patch didn't even say another word to Melody before she took a running start and leapt over the river, trying to mimic her glorious run there.

She ended up falling head-first into the bottom, her tail end sticking out of the water like a tannish little rock in the middle of a river. A cute little fish with big lips that looked strangely familiar swam by, stopping by to wave at her for a second before being drawn by the river's current.

Patch stood up, her nose throbbing a bit, The water reached up to her neck when she got back up. "To Jazzercise!" she declared, running out of the water and ignoring her pain.

"Hey… wait for me!"

888

"Aw man, what are we gonna tell Bon Bon?"

Melody bobbed her head; the pony version of a shrug that could be done while walking. "It'll be fine. Maybe one of the others found it."

Patch could tell that Mel was just trying to make her feel better, and as such lowered her head. "She's really worried about this…" she muttered.

"You aren't responsible for it," Melody assured her. "Don't be so negative; it's unlike you. This isn't just because you have a crush on her, is it?"

Patch reluctantly lifted her head. "I have no idea. I mean, after that… confession last week, I can't think of her any other way. It's pathetic. _I'm _pathetic."

"Quit being a downer! You aren't pathetic, it isn't pathetic, and it's fine! You're confessing to her soon anyway. I swear, if this whole crush thing turns my best friend into a self-hating loser, I'll beat you up." Melody's tone of voice left no room for argument. "This entire crush thing in the first place happened because you care about her," Melody added in a more encouraging way, "so it's no big deal."

The two girls halted in front of the Ice Cream Shop. Patch sighed. "Thanks Mal. I'll need that." The taupe pony pushed the door open and led her friend to the booth her friends were all sitting at. Patch's skin crawled under her fur at the hopeful look Bon Bon gave her. "Sorry Bon Bon, I came up empty."

"Me too," Melody added.

"Aw, what am I gonna do?" the yellow pony asked hopelessly. "That book has all of my deepest secrets inside it! If anyone at all reads it, I'll be ruined." Bon Bon buried her face in her forehooves on the table. "For good…"

Bright Eyes sighed. "I would keep on looking for it, but I have an awful lot of homework to get to."

"I can't take a break from my job," Starlight added. "I need to work at least two hours today!"

Patch couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Who else has a generic excuse?" She couldn't help asking the question. Everyone always had to do the same things, didn't they?

"I have to get to the Barringtons' house to babysit later on," the white pony of the group added. "…Also, what's 'generic?'"

"See what I mean? Our friend is in serious trouble and all we can do is think about ourselves," Patch retorted with a roll of her eyes. "Even Sweetheart fell into the trap."

"Quit being so negative, Patch, I know you like Bon Bon," Starlight retorted. "You're just upset."

Patch shot Starlight a warning glare and leaned forward. "Shut up I do not! You've got a lot of nerve to say something like that, sissy!" She couldn't believe Starlight would bring _that _up right in front of all of her friends. And so passively, too! Before she knew it, she slammed her hooves on the table and growled at the pink pony, who just looked surprised.

"We all like Bon Bon here; she's our friend." Starlight gave her a beseeching look with her pale purple eyes that just seemed to scream, _I didn't mean it like that, Patch… I never would!_

"Fine. I'm checking the Rollerama again."

With that, Patch charged away.

888

The next day, Patch pulled her lunch out of her toolbox-styled lunchbox, smiling gently as she took the plastic wrap off of it. Ham and cheese with a lot of mayonnaise piled on under whole-grain bread. She opened her jaws to take a bite… but promptly closed them again.

Something was wrong.

Patch wiggled her ears as she tried to listen for some clue… and she ended up hearing the sound of ponies whispering just around the corner of the schoolhouse. She adopted a determined, suspicious look as she abandoned her sandwich in her lunchbox.

She came around the corner and pressed herself against the solid pink wall behind her. Just six feet closer, she could distinctly hear two voices.

"I said _squares, _not rectangles!"

Uh-oh. That was Teddy the Troublemaker. Something was clearly going to explode if she didn't further investigate.

There was shuffling. _I need to get a better vantage point, _Patch decided. Grabbing her lunch box, she hurried around to the opposite side. Spinner and Dandy, who were hanging out on the side, asked minimal questions, but Patch was in no mood for it, and jumped up a series of crates and onto the slanted roof of the school.

The taupe pony climbed on her hind legs as she jumped up, gripping the flat part of the roof. Her forehooves found purchase, but her legs were dangling. She kicked them for a minute and then inched the rest of the way up.

Okay. She was on the roof.

Patch slunk across the pink surface and peered down... though what she saw made her take in a sharp breath.

Bon Bon was sitting in front of Teddy, leaning into his personal space and… feeding him little squares of cheese. "Better?" she asked in a hoarse whisper.

"Yeah… now I think I could use a back massage though." The blue pony grinned devilishly at Bon Bon, who sighed wearily.

"Uhm..." The yellow pony attached her hoof to her chin as Teddy lay down on his stomach. Then Bon Bon sighed.

Patch couldn't stop staring as Bon Bon inched up to Teddy's side and started rubbing his back.

_Oh… my… gosh… _Patch's eyes widened at the realization of what was happening… _Bon Bon is cheating on me. With HIM._

Why?! What was so great about _Teddy?!_

More importantly… just, why? Hadn't she been _really _close last time? Wasn't Bon Bon happy to have someone sappily declare their love for her? Or… had it all been a ruse, a bamboozling trick, to mock her?

And Teddy was a rude, rebellious, loud jerk who did nothing but hurt ponies. If he and the demure, innocent Bon Bon got together… _that relationship would sour quick. _Bon Bon was not only cheating on her best friend… but she was heading for an abusive relationship _so quick. _And Bon Bon would be wrecked forever.

But in the meantime, Bon Bon seemed happy to be around that JERK! And if that idiot of a Teddy dared hurt her, Patch would take it upon herself to tear him limb-from-limb and get _pictures _of the teddy bear he had. Illegal, but so justified!

"Tell me how handsome I am," Teddy demanded.

"The handsomest," Bon Bon replied in a monotone voice.

Bon Bon was seriously duped. Oh, why couldn't it be _her _down here?! Getting a massage from the fair lady would have been off the hook amazing! Ooh, she would teach those cheaters a lesson. Her broken heart wouldn't fix until she was done with just that!

888

"Alright then, class, it's time for our project of making our very own rollercoaster, just like I said we would yesterday."

Patch glared between Bon Bon and Teddy, not knowing _which _was the more logical to glare at. It was Bon Bon who needed to change her mind, but… she was really mad at Teddy, in a totally different league than her heartbroken anger at the yellow pony. So instead, she shifted between them every few seconds.

"You may choose partners as you like. Remember the rules: no unruly behavior, no misusing the supplies and no breaking the rules for the project, which I've written here." Miss Hackney motioned towards the black board. "Any questions?"

Nobody raised their hoof. Miss Hackney nodded in approval, putting her hooves on her hips. "Good. Now you all may pair up."

Before Patch could even get up, Bon Bon turned around in her seat and grabbed her by the hoof. "Please?" she asked with a nervous grin.

Patch nodded, smiling gently before remembering what she'd vowed earlier. But then, she could cut off her losses and just divert the attention away from Teddy and back onto herself. And besides, she was happy because their hooves connected so perfectly. "'Course."

The two quickly unlinked their appendages when Teddy came in, his annoying Mohawk markedly more annoying than usual. "Hey Bon Bon, wanna work with me?" he asked with a wide, slightly wicked smile.

"Oh! Me and Patch here were gonna work together," the yellow pony exclaimed with a grin. "Guess you better go find someone else to work with, and…"

"But we have to work together… _remember_?!" Teddy demanded pointedly. "The deal from earlier."

_What's going on? _Bon Bon chuckled nervously and then returned her gaze to a very confused Patch. "Sorry. I think I'll work with Teddy today. Next time."

Patch's eyebrows furrowed as Bon Bon was practically dragged away by the blue pony. _What deal?!_

"Upset about those two?"

Patch looked behind her to see Sweetheart standing there on twos, sighing and shaking her head and looking at Bon Bon and Teddy. Teddy was saying something to the yellow pony that clearly scared her (and despite that vow, she was perfectly willing to smack the guy upside the head). "You have no idea."

"I knew you would," Sweetheart said, turning her pink eyes to Patch. "You like Bon Bon, I like Teddy… it makes sense."

Patch's ears shot up. "What the?! You know?!"

Sweetheart smirked. Or, well, did the closest thing Sweethearts did to a smirk. "Oh, Patchy, I've known all along. By that, I mean since the masquerade incident. By the way, that was not nice of you to put Teddy down like that. But I think we should team up."

"Uh…"

Sweetheart smiled widely. "I knew you'd say that." Then she skipped to the door, where everyone was lining up with their partners.

Patch reeled from the strangeness of the situation for a moment before she sighed. _How wouldn't she know? She's a romantic… _Come to think of it, hadn't Sweetheart said once or twice that, basically, they would make a cute couple?!

But still, she all but wandered up next to the white pony in line. As she did, she put her hoof around Patch's shoulder and smiled in a very disproportionately large way. _Oh man…_

Miss Hackney led the class out of the classroom shortly and onto the playground. Patch and Sweetheart approached one of the seven piles of stuff that was situated out there; one that was just to the side of the schoolhouse. All sorts of things were in the assortment of objects. Tape, nails, plywood, tubes, pipe cleaners… basically all manner of construction materials for all types of ponies experience-wise.

"Okay. Before we get started on this whole rollercoaster thing, tell me ALL ABOUT your feelings for Bon Bon," Sweetheart said. She pushed Patch up against the wall and looked uncharacteristically stern as she stared into Patch's gold eyes.

_Darn it, where did she get so tall?! _"Uh… I, uh…"

"Well, I can't help you and her get married someday if you don't tell me!" Sweetheart sounded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Marriage?! Eww! I don't want to get married with her, married couples do…" Patch gulped and probably blushed, "…the thing…"

"You don't _have _to do the thing in a marriage. You just need to love someone enough to be with them forever and ever. And _I _think you girls would be perfect together. You just need a little nudge. So that's why I wanted to ask you what you've tried so far."

Patch pushed Sweetheart out of her face, causing her to land on her rump with a soft "oh!" "Don't get ahead of yourself Sweets," she warned, her eyes narrowed.

Sweetheart got to her hooves and giggled. "Of course. I'm just teasing you. So what did you try so far?"

"Well…" Patch sighed. "Let's talk about it another day… For now… let's just work."

"Alright then!" Sweetheart exclaimed. "I was thinking we should do something like the Pony Monster at the amusement park!"

"I was thinkin' more along the lines of the Firebolt…"

"Great. I'll start drawing a diagram!"

As Sweetheart trotted off to find a sheet of paper and a pencil, Patch grinned wickedly, gripping the marbles in her pocket with gusto and then glancing at Teddy and Bon Bon, who were right then trying to attach some tubes together to form the first part of their coaster. _Time to do what I'm best at…_


	10. Perhaps Prosperous? (E24)

"I really appreciate having you by my side, Patch," Bon Bon giggled, lying next to the wheat-colored pony in the grass. "I'm so glad I have you to confide in about everything!"

Patch snuggled up to her friend in response. "I'm glad to be there for ya, Bons," she assured, as a yellow hoof came around her back and pulled her closer. "You're, like, my best friend… you know that?"

"You're my best friend too," Bon Bon replied affectionately before nuzzling her friend's messy pink mane. Patch's tongue lolled out at the contact.

To the experienced observer, it would be obvious that the huge meadow of pink, purple and yellow flowers and the ponies in it weren't real, but a figment of a very troubled, misguided young pony's imagination.

Let's break it down. Firstly, Dream Bon Bon didn't have any stress to be spoken of, not even a shadow of it on her face in some way. Normally, even if she was happy, she had slight bags under her eyes thanks to her constant stress, as well as a lack of sleep. Her eyes were rarely that soft and happy.

Even getting away from that, Bon Bon never giggled her sentences, or showed public displays of affection.

So that was why the poking in Patch's side was obviously going to come to end the illusion.

888

"Patch. Patch. Patch." Her name was short and in monotone as the masculine voice continued to sound.

Patch grumbled just slightly as she woke up to the sight of a pair of forest green eyes at a moderate distance from her face. "You okay?" Ace asked, nudging her shoulder once again.

Patch immediately sat up and faced the tan colt in front of her. "Whah? How long was I asleep for?"

Ace shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. But what I do want to know…" Ace equipped a just-slightly smug grin. "…Is what you were doing here early dreaming about Bon Bon."

"Shut up, I was _not _dreaming about anybody!"

The details of the dream were already becoming a blur, though she was _positive _that it was something about the yellow pony in question. Ace was really perceptive when it came to his friends, but she had to wonder… _how obvious am I?_

Ace rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and I stink at stuff, which I don't. I can read you like a book."

Patch punched the jock's shoulder way harder than was absolutely necessary.

"Chill out Patch! Jeez, when are you just gonna tell her how you feel?" Ace clutched his arm and glared at the slightly-shorter soccer player.

Patch's ears drooped and her head fell. "…How obvious am I?"

"So obvious," Ace retorted, stopping the façade of pain immediately. "But really, don't worry about it. The other boys claim you like girls, but it's just 'cause they're irritated their own crush doesn't like them. Nobody legitimately knows."

Patch heaved a sigh of relief at that, at least. Always one to look at the positive side of things; ponies who thought stuff were gonna talk, but there were probably all kinds of rumors out. That was okay because there would be contradictories and, besides… it was half-true.

"So anyway, what happened? Why were you sleeping here at the soccer pitch?"

The tomboy got up from the wooden bench she was sitting on. It was pretty rare that she actually remembered the events preceding her bedtime, so she didn't really remember things, but it was pretty clear what had happened. "Uh… musta got here too early for tryouts."

Ace smirked. "Glad you did. You're adorable when you sleep."

Patch snorted and started giggling. "Stop it, you're making me blush!" Obviously not in reality, but she was grinning from ear-to-ear.

"Anyway, now that you're awake, I'm gonna go take a shower. Wanna come with?"

Patch jumped to her hooves and flashed a grin at Ace. "Naw. I'm gonna do some stretches. Enjoy."

The brown colt nodded and made his way towards the locker structure on the other end of the field. The taupe pony watched her friend for a moment before she dug around in her bag.

"Apples, pencils, notepad, granola bars, oatmeal raisin, joke kit…" As she said the name of the object, she tossed it out behind her until she grinned and pulled a blue-striped headband out of her pack and put it on, throwing her bangs up over it so they could hang freely. Then she put on her four white and blue legwarmers on over her hooves and did a little jumping motion with her awesome soccer uniform.

She ran up to a soccer ball and gave it a hardy kick, sending it into the goal with a loud swish.

_Now _she understood why Ace never slept in on the weekends.

Her eyes shone with determination as she charged down the pitch and grabbed the ball in her hooves. She threw it upwards a good ten feet and gave it a vigorous kick across the field to the other goal.

And it met its mark no problem. But that made sense because she was pretty good at soccer.

"Wait a sec, Patch!"

Ace charged back up to Patch, his white towel draped over his shoulders. "Uh, doncha have jazzercise with the girls this morning?"

Patch's heart deflated and she died.

888

"Patch, dear, you're late."

The tomboyish pony arrived panting at the blue instructor's side. But then… if you had to run across town twice on an empty stomach, chances were you wouldn't feel too exuberant. "Sorry… huff… Miss…"

The blue pony frowned. "Are you sure you don't want to relax, dear Patchwork? Maybe get some ice cream from Lemon Drop?"

Patch gave the instructor a slight glare for using her full first name before huffing, "I'm fine."

Then she did a cross between a skip and a prowl to the spot next to Bon Bon where she was to try and focus on jazzercise that day. The yellow pony gave her a confused look. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine," Patch said, matching her hooves up to those of her crush. _She has great hooves, _she couldn't help but think with a goofy (and she couldn't help but think, slightly perverted) grin. They were shiny, and probably really soft and gentle…

"Alright then, take it from the top! Right two three four, and LEFT two three four!"

At first, the pink-maned pony struggled to keep up on the account of her exhaustion, but soon enough… _hey, this is pretty easy! _A lot easier than running around Ponyland, at least.

So she got really into it eventually, muttering under her breath with the instructor. "One two three four, one two three four…"

"How can you DO this?!" Clover exclaimed after falling for what seemed like the fifteenth time on top of Sweetheart. By then even the taciturn white pony was starting to look ever-so-slightly annoyed.

"Just keep on trying, Clover," she said exasperatedly. "You'll get it sometime."

Long since the instructor stopped stopping for those interruptions. Honestly, that purple pony was about as clumsy as a gecko who tried to stand on two legs…

"This is so hard!" Bon Bon exclaimed, her hooves going in the opposite directions they were supposed to. "How do you _coordinate _everything for this long?!"

Starlight, who was on Bon Bon's other side, answered, "Just a lot of practice. Be grateful we were taking it easy today, or we would have done the snake."

Bon Bon groaned loudly. All of the ponies halted for the count they were supposed to (they'd changed rhythms) and her startup was delayed as she tried to catch her breath. "I'm outta gas… I have to stop."

"Must be that blueberry muffin you had for breakfast this morning that's slowing you down," Starlight teased.

"And the one you had for lunch too," Patch added before realizing that they _hadn't _had lunch yet.

Everyone but Bon Bon and the instructor had a good laugh, though whether it was at her expense or at the actual joke was unknown. Didn't matter to Patch though.

Clover stumbled over one more time, commenting that she was 'so clumsy.' Patch glanced back and saw Bright Eyes and Sweetheart wedged under Clover with very irritated looks on their faces.

"Alright then, girls, we're done with our workout for the day," the instructor announced. "You all did a great job. Remember that the next day we return here it'll be March tenth. That's the tenth everybody. Stay sharp!"

_The tenth, huh? Sounds like my birthday is coming up! _Patch smiled to herself. _Ten years old… wonders never cease, do they?_

Bon Bon stumbled on her stomach almost the second the instructor announced her signature line and bounced off the stage. "Can't… move… spots in vision… tired…"

"Um… I'll take care of her," Patch announced, staring down at her friend with concern. "You go on ahead."

Patch recognized the knowing wink Starlight gave to her and almost audibly groaned. "Come on, girls," the pink pony said, picking Clover up out of the pile she had created, "I dunno about you girls, but I could use a Squash Squish after all of that!"

With that, Starlight led the whole group except for Patch and Bon Bon out, though not without another wink from the pink pony. She was sure she heard a succinct giggle from Sweetheart, too.

It was then that Patch realized that this would be no simple task. Bon Bon was, like, one hundred twenty percent her weight…

_Well crud._

Bon Bon flopped onto her back and continued her panting, Some color flushed her muzzle as she said, "Um, I don't need you to carry me or anything. J-Just help me up."

"Okay." Patch quickly reached down to grab her friend's hoof before leaning herself back and pulling. It wasn't as if she needed an excuse to get close to her best friend. And you know, she did manage to get her friend to her hooves, just at the cost of her own standing on two legs and falling backwards on her own back.

The only thing that made it noteworthy at all was the fact that Bon Bon was standing over top of Patch, so it _could _possibly look like Bon Bon tackled Patch to the ground. "Bon Bon, I love you," Patch very nearly said aloud.

But instead, she settled for saying in a playful tone, "Come on Juliet; let's get to the others."

Ooh, did Bon Bon blush at that. She was probably blushing too, so small comfort and all of that, but she was just so _cute _when she did that. "I'm not Juliet; I don't even like Shakespony!" She shifted backwards so Patch could get to her hooves, which the taupe pony promptly did.

Ever since the whole deal with Bon Bon cheating on her… well, she was extra affectionate and playful. And it was a great improvement, the giddy feeling; much like at the very beginning, back when she was so disappointed that she cried about it. Seriously, she was _such _an immature little fledge before.

But even the giddiness around Bon Bon had its downsides, like having to stop midsentence at times or excuse herself because she'd accidentally gotten too close at the wrong time. The incident she called the 'I luff you' one stuck to her brain, where she'd pretty much said "I love you" and had to make a last minute alteration to make it mean 'luff,' which was basically lift (which she failed at).

But seriously, whether she got with Bon Bon or not… she had to get it off her chest.

888

But hanging around Bon Bon wasn't all that had Patch in a total giddy mess. Ace came by after the jazzercise section and picked her up for soccer practice. But not just any soccer practice; there was a big game coming up.

But what was more amazing than that?

Coach Whistle had invited his two star players to help him find a new alternate for that big game! He'd said it just like that. "Alrighty then, guys, you're my star players. You guys are gonna help me choose an alternate for the big game. We have lots of applicants, and we can only choose two."

She'd saluted and Ace agreed for both of them. Hence they had to be at the soccer pitch a little bit early so they could help prepare.

"Haha! Hey, Ace, I'm a gnome!"

"Patch!" the brown colt snapped. "Knock it off!"

Patch quit doing her goofy dance and took the orange cone off of her head, but her grin was not to be erased. "Aw, come on Ace, lighten up!"

"We only have fifteen minutes, and we still have half the obstacle course to go!"

Patch chuckled for a moment more before seeing Ace's glaring face. Then she snorted and put the cone back where she found it. "Ugh, lighten up Ace! You're no fun."

The soccer pony rolled his eyes. "No. I just know how to keep dignity and _not _make a total fool of myself."

"Ouch."

"Now quit being a clown," Ace snapped, throwing a tape measure at Patch for her to catch, "and measure the other side of the course."

The taupe pony rolled her eyes. "Sheesh, okay pretty boy."

Patch trotted to the other side of the obstacle course. The whole thing would only be six feet wide; basically, someone would kick the ball through twenty feet of cones with just that width to prove they could kick the ball straight. It wasn't an easy exercise, but if a kid could do it then chances were they were _good; _really good. She could do it nowadays, but Ace was the only one Patch know of who actually got the exercise done well the first time he did it.

Patch dug the end of the tape measure in the ground at a white line and and secured it with a stomp of her hoof. Then she carefully started dragging the measure out.

But then, she noticed an unbidden guest sitting on the wooden grandstands; the bottom bench. Even at a distance, there was no mistaking it.

Bon Bon.

She smiled and waved, suddenly feeling just a bit better about her best guy friend's short attitude. Then she continued pulling her tool along with a sigh. When she reached the end of the twenty foot aisle, she marked the spot with a short jab of her hoof into the ground and then glanced upwards again.

A lot closer but still watching was her mellow yellow friend. Patch grinned widely and skipped up to her friend, though she clearly wasn't thinking that clearly when she did so. "Hiya Bon Bon," she greeted with a hearty grin. "What're you doing here?"

Bon Bon's ears folded, and she suddenly looked more self-conscious. "Watching mainly."

_W-watching? _"What are you watching?"

"Um… you and Ace."

"Good for you. Enjoy the view?" Patch asked playfully. The touch of flirt in her tone was probably obvious.

"Uhm… I-I guess." Bon Bon at least seemed to get it, based on the flustered look she wore. She clutched a red leather book, her diary, closer to her chest. "Just sort of hanging out."

"We should do that," Patch said with a quick wink that made Bon Bon's fur heat up. That giddy feeling shook her to her core as she did so… even if she was _really nervous. _And she had no clue what she was doing.

"W-W-When?"

"After practice?" the taupe pony suggested. "That'd work for me if it works for you. Around, hmmm… four o'clock."

It wasn't exactly the first date she'd set (nor was it really a date at all). As a matter of fact, she'd messed them up in every way possible. She'd giggled, pranked, punched, deadpanned, insulted and even FORGOTTEN her way to failure. But maybe this time she would do a good job of it. "Wherever you want to go."

Bon Bon grinned slightly past her blush. "Oh, sure. Guess we should just meet up here at… four. Totally."

"See ya there," Patch responded with a wink before cantering away.

She just kind of stood there with a goofy grin for a second. Ace furrowed his eyebrows as he struggled with a folding chair. He never _could _do the folding chair thing. "A little help here?"

Patch giggled softly and said, "I like Bon Bon…"

Ace groaned loudly and rolled his eyes. "Just get this chair. I have more important things to do."

The brownish colt dropped the metallic chair with a _clang _and sauntered away to straighten up some cones. Patch gave the chair's butt sit part (for lack of a better word) a good kick and then spread the legs of the chair before setting it down on the ground.

It was right then that she heard it. "_Psst._"

Patch wiggled her ears just to make sure she wasn't hearing things. But, surely enough, another iteration of the sound, more forceful could be heard. "PSSST!"

She whipped around. "Starlight?" she asked in a hoarse whisper.

She could see a pink hoof waving at her from behind the tall wooden fence. Patch jogged up to her and was surprised when she was dragged around the fence by the neck.

"Patch, I need your help," the blonde-maned pony said in an urgent whisper. "Don't laugh, but… I have a big crush on Ace."

_Big shock._

"And I need your help to impress him. Walking by with a ribbon in my hair DID NOT work."

_Oh, did that happen while I was with…? _"Oh. Uh, sure. We're having soccer practice and-"

"I need you to just let me try out with the others. And make sure I make it on the soccer team! I need to join to get Ace's attention."

Patch blinked and nodded. "Yeah, sure, Starl. You can try out. Just know that it's for alternate and not for being on the actual home team."

"Oh."

"It's cool if you try out then. We'll be soccer girls together then, ah?" Patch gave Starlight a playful little punch on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Star. I'm sure you'll be a natural at it."

Starlight sighed and nodded. "Thanks, Patch. I sure hope so…"

"I know so. We need to go and get you a uniform though, so… we're off to the shower house. I'll race you there! One two three GO!"

888

Doing all of the soccer help was pretty awesome. Patch got to assess everyone who was there with Ace and Coach, and sometimes got called to demonstrate something. Because the ponies were a lot less experienced at soccer, she felt a bit like a big sister to them. Even if she didn't know them well.

But she kept an extra close eye on Starlight. She was good… _really _good! A natural at the sport! She'd practically breezed through everything, although Ace clearly didn't feel the same way about her progress.

But she and the coach did, and two out of three was pretty good.

So Starlight stood out as a candidate for the team. Nobody else quite had her prowess, and… Patch was proud of her. Who knew a teacher's pet whose favorite subject was math would be so awesome at sports? Not her~

"Okay now, Starlight. Dribble around Ace and you're on the team," Coach said calmly, standing in between an Ace in battle stance and a gulping and nervous Starlight. He walked out of the way and gave Patch a euphoric grin when he was done with them.

But for the first time, she felt legitimately concerned. Starlight looked awfully nervous, after all, and that was unlike her. The pink pomy gulped. "Around… Ace? But he's, he's…"

"…The greatest?" Ace suggested, lowering himself to the ground.

"Uh… huh…"

Luckily, the prankster knew when her friends needed an encouraging nod and a little advice, so she grinned at her pink friend. "You can do it Starlight!"

Suddenly Coach blew his namesake whistle, and Starlight kicked it up to Ace, still having nerves etched all over her face. Patch practically held her breath for her friend as she approached Ace, who climbed on his hind legs and lifted his leg, ready to kick the ball. But unless he did a screwball (he wasn't famous for those) it was unlikely he'd get it past Starlight! This WOULD have a happy ending after all!

But then she went and kicked it with her _hind hoof, _not her forehoof. Ace kicked the ball out of the way as she kicked it.

…Least it couldn't get any worse, right?

Starlight slid across the grass and stumbled into the goal net with a short scream. Patch all but ran up to her, offering her hoof. "Are you alright?"

Starlight's purple gaze was sorry (a more Cloverish look than a Starlight one) as she replied, "I… guess so…"

Starlight gripped Patch's hoof and got to her hooves. Ace approached with a sympathetic look on his face. "Uh, I just went for the ball," he said with a mollifying grin. It was a bit mocking… but that was Ace's usual way of comfort for little things like that.

But that didn't mean Starlight knew that, because things went even further downhill when her eyes became flecked with tears, and her breathing became labored. She dashed away to hide her despair.

…And now Starlight was acting like Bon Bon on the masquerade night. Seriously, what were the odds? And part of the reason the normally-cool pony was so emotionally fragile was because she knew about what Ace had been saying about her all day long; she was sure of it. A very familiar protective force heated her from the core as she glared at Ace. "Ace, you _stink,_" she huffed, her voice dark with emotion, as she bucked a soccer ball in his face.

After watching the soccer kid be dizzy for a second, Patch got running, only one thing on her mind: comforting Starlight. Coach yelled out suddenly, so Patch stopped and poked her head around the fence. The Coach lumbered up to her and nodded definitely. "Tell Starlight she made the team. She was pretty good, 'till we put her up against the captain."

The tomboy nodded. "Yes sir, mister president sir."

Patch continued her swift steps through the woods, keeping a sharp ear and eye out for Starlight. Judging by the lack of sniffling that she could hear, Starlight had sped up considerably when she got out of Ace's sight, and though the wooded area didn't have a tall, dangerous cliff that Patch knew about, there was a slow-flowing stream.

Besides, Patch took a bit of comfort in knowing that Starlight was rational. She wouldn't drown herself or anything… or, at least, it would take a long time to do so.

But still, the taupe pony kept up her brisk pace. Regardless of Starlight's likelihood of killing herself (which was admittedly very low) she still had to be there for her friend; a shoulder to cry on. And someone to give her a reassuring pat on the back and a bit of encourage-

"Wait a second!"

Patch jumped considerably and spread her hooves hide in battle stance before noticing the very last pony she needed to see running at her from the direction she came from. A yellow one who was known to have terrible timing at times…

"Bon Bon?" Patch called out with disbelief. Bon Bon panted and huffed, even though it was hardly a fifty yard run. She pounded her chest with her hoof for a moment before saying, "Just a sec…"

"I really have to get to Starlight, Bons. Uh… can't this wait?"

Bon Bon shook her head, and took a good extra ten seconds to let herself stabilize in her breathing. "Is this an okay time?"

_No it isn't. Starlight could be trying to commit suicide, through wrestling with bears, or through drowning herself while wrestling with bears. Or she's crying her eyes out wondering why Ace doesn't love her, and questioning her own worth! Or maybe she's doing both at the same time! _"Of course," Patch responded_, _grinning in that emotional high _again._

_I am a terrible friend. _But the thought vanished as quickly as it appeared, as Bon Bon scraped her hoof in the grass and looked anywhere but at Patch. The tomboy was no expert at romance… but she was _dead sure _this was what a confession looked like… and it was awesome.

"Uhm… It goes like this," Bon Bon started with a blush. "It's kinda… complex, and… don't hate me!" The yellow pony suddenly squeaked, crouching down and hiding her face in her hooves.

_Oh cheese, what is this? What is happening here? _Patch knew very well but couldn't help but have the play-ignorant thoughts. The corners of her mouth turned upwards in an uncontrollable grin. No face-falling or failure on her part this time! "I couldn't hate you," Patch assured with that goofy grin on her face. "Far from it!"

"You mean, you won't tell anypony or anybody at all?" Bon Bon whimpered, peeking out with blue eyes the sizes of saucers.

Patch shook her head, then realized her mistake and nodded. Bon Bon squeaked and buried her head. She settled for replying, "Well, I won't tell no- uh, anybody."

Aw great, now the giddiness from the beginning was blending with nerves… What if she was such a failure she ruined her FRIEND'S confession? That'd be embarrassing, and if he caught wind, Ace would never let her hear the end of it…

"I-I-In that case… I… Patch… Um…" Around forty seconds separated each one of Bon Bon's syllables. After the last "um" Bon Bon started breathing heavily; almost as if she'd run a marathon. Her light blue eyes scanned the area frantically for something; maybe a way out, Patch didn't know.

Hyperventilation. Something Patch wouldn't know about had she not been part of the Perfect Points soccer team. It was dangerous to do that… And even if Bon Bon was really timid and panicked sometimes, it still ached her to see Bon in such a panic, though.

As such, it was not only the giddiness that shot Patch into action; it was sympathy and pity.

"I-I love you too!" Patch blurted out. She pulled her friend off the ground and up to her in a huge hug.

Bon Bon froze for a second at the contact; Patch could feel her friend tensing up under her hooves. Patch nosed Bon Bon's neck just slightly in the hug before the mellow yellow pony even thought to wrap her arms around the taupe pony's waist in kind. But after her initial freeze-up, she smiled and returned the embrace in kind.

"…I kinda like you too," she replied with a soft smile. Patch gently nosed her friend's shoulder. She marveled a bit at the subtle smell of cookies that wafted off of her. "How'd you realize you like-liked me?"

"Loved ya? I dunno. I only figured it out during the masquerade." It shot pain through her heart to remember the despair Bon Bon had felt that night. "B-But I loved you before that too! Like there was this one day I cried because you had the flu and you couldn't go skating." It was pretty embarrassing to think about.

Bon Bon froze. "Oh… you really cried over that?"

Patch nodded and pulled away. Bon Bon looked almost _guilty _for some reason, but instead of asking, she just said, "It's alright. That's in the past. How did _you _realize you loved me?"

Bon Bon's fur around her face tinted red. "While I was on my date with Cookie, er, Spinner, I couldn't stop thinking about you."

Patch just slightly blushed at the revelation. "Speaking of… the time we hang out after practice can be our very first date." She suddenly adopted her best Chain Link impression and added, "I'm looking forward to it cupcake."

Bon Bon's slight flush turned into an attempt to replicate a tomato. She nodded shyly.

Patch flashed a grin, her confidence rushing back to her in hoards. "Seriously, though, we're game for a date after the big game tomorrow. I've got to weed through Starlight's performance to prove she should be on the team tonight. Speaking of Star, I've gotta go help her out."

Patch trotted a few steps away from the very flustered, embarrassed-looking Bon Bon before adding, "I love you buttercup."

Then she hurried away, happiness pouring out of every pore. Confidence made her practically skip as she lifted her eyes and scanned the area for Starlight, seeing her friend a short distance away. _This'll be a piece of cake, _the taupe pony thought as she sped up. _A piece of cupcake served on a silver spoon being carried by a UFO!_

888

The big game… yeah, it couldn't really be summarized in one sentence. For some ponies it went better than others; a fact that stood true for anything.

The Perfect Paints had won by one point, scored by Starlight at the very end. Ace had a fun time until Starlight got called in and he stormed off angrily. Lime Pie got her ankle twisted for the fifth time that month. The opposing team's goalie may or may not have gotten a concussion. Patch had to defend Starlight's honor a few times. Starlight got on the team and won the winning goal… but she wasn't satisfied because Ace was being a grump like he often was when he didn't get his way.

For Patch personally, it'd gone really well… and even if it hadn't, she was walking with Bon Bon's hoof linked with hers and soft eye contact between herself and her crush. "Great job," she'd praised after the game finished and the two got some time alone.

Right then, they were trotting slowly the long way away from soccer practice; though the sunny park, which had tulips and other flowers blowing in the soft breeze. It was springtime; Patch's favorite time of the year second only to summer. And the pony next to her…

"Bon Bon, you personify spring," she said with a somewhat serious tone.

Bon Bon raised an eyebrow and blushed just slightly. She was doing that a lot... "Huh?"

"Pretty, innocent, blossoming and trying new things. It sounds cliché, but it's true."

Bon Bon halted and let go of Patch's hoof, swapping back to standing on all four of her legs. Patch stopped and blinked.

Then Bon Bon presented her a small bouquet of flowers, freshly picked, and hung her head. Patch was confused only before she saw her eyes saying what she couldn't say out loud.

Patch smiled and pulled the pink and yellow flowers up to her nose and giving them a discreet sniff. Like regular flowers scent-wise, but she still said, "They smell good."

Bon Bon's ears folded back and she stared at her hooves self-consciously. "It's nothing really," she assured in a mutter.

The tomboy grinned with amusement at her newfound ponyfriend's reaction. "You're cute," she said with a smirk. It melted into a grin when Bon Bon's tail just slightly wagged like a hopeful puppy's. Unintentional, of course, but still worthy of comment. "Really cute."

"Who knows this about us?" Bon Bon suddenly asked, standing up straight on four legs and ambling forward. Patch followed.

"Trustworthy ones. Mel, Starlight and Sweetheart were trying to help me out, and so was Ace. I think Teddy and Lancer know too. Oh, and Miss Hackney and Mr. Tidwell."

Bon Bon's eyes widened. "Oh gosh, you didn't _actually _tell Miss Hackney, did you?"

"Hey, she's actually a pretty cool old pony when she wants to be. So yeah." Patch nodded. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"So many ponies know. I kept it all to myself except for… well, Teddy and Sweetheart. How did it even come up? She's our teacher for pony's sake! She doesn't need to know about us."

"Well, we can figure out a sleepover tonight. I can explain there. You game?"

Bon Bon nodded. "I'd love to spend the night with you," she practically whispered.

"Yeah, definitely." Patch blushed. "My house at eight, okay?"

"I-I'll try."

888

…Now, if you like PatchBon, just watch the end of Just for Kicks. The last thirty seconds will. Then tell me I'm not crazy for seeing the two being very happy as they tell everything to Starlight, then she is upset because things with Ace didn't go over well. Then, when Ace comes, Patch suggests they leave with that voice, and then drags her off by the hoof, all with that romantic music playing.

Then the twister tail… yeah, I figured the subtext there was a bit obvious. But there'll be one more chapter. So yay for that.


	11. Pony-Pal Playful Party (Epilogue)

Patch sat on the bright blue couch in the living room, rocking back and forth nervously as she stared at the clock on the wall. Eight twenty-four?! Bon Bon could be late, but not that late… they'd parted ways really excited! Did she forget? Or did her mom say no?

"Patch, don't worry yourself over this," Knit Knack called from the other side of the couch. Patch looked over at the light-colored pony, who was holding a red ball of yarn and two needles. "It's entirely okay if they're a few minutes late. And even if they can't come, then it's a friendly get-together we can schedule for tomorrow."

Patch emphatically motioned towards her mom with her hooves, her gold eyes wide. "Just a get-together? Mom, you don't understand anything about this."

"Enlighten me, then."

"Mooom!" Patch yelled, before looking back up at the clock. "8:25! That's twenty-five minutes late! Ooh…"

Knit Knack gave her daughter a knowing look. Patch tried to glare at her mother, though it came out more like a desperate stare with annoyance mixed in. "Patch, I wouldn't be your mother if I didn't tell you that you are an open book."

Patch crossed her forehooves and sighed, sinking into the blue fabric. "Are you serious?"

Knit nodded. "Yep, but we all go through it at some point. You know, once I felt that way about another pony."

"Really?" Patch asked, scooting a bit closer.

Her mom nodded. "Yep… and now, he's your father."

"MOM!"

Knit laughed with mirth as Patch swung her hoof out at some unsuspecting air in front of her. "You're so embarrassing! No, I'm never getting married!" she crossed her forehooves and stuck her nose up. Knit rolled her eyes playfully.

"You haven't denied it, sweetie," Knit noted before smiling easily. "You're just adorable. I knew this would happen someday… I just didn't expect it to be a girl. You have my blessing."

_Just stop talking… _Patch glared at the yellow carpet below her hooves. Why did she have to fall in love…? Dumb emotions.

Almost immediately after she thought that, she squinted up at the clock again. 8:27. She sighed, a perfect cross between annoyed and worried. _Where is she?_

With that thought, thankfully, mercifully, there was a knock at the door. Patch ran up to it and swung it open, her eyes glowing at the sight of the yellow pony on the step. She leapt on top of Bon Bon in an embrace, and she wobbled and tripped under her weight. She tightened her hooves around her friend's stomach in a hug. "Patch!" Bon Bon shouted indignantly.

"I guess she's really excited," Slice Cake remarked as Knit Knack came up to the door. Both parents shared a laugh as Bon Bon shuffled, trying to get Patch off her back.

"I demand you get off of me or else!" Bon Bon barked before wiggling madly.

Patch practically jumped off and smiled euphorically. Bon Bon got to her hooves and, with an annoyed look at Patch, began to dust herself off. "Euphoric," Knit Knack agreed. "Would you care to sit down before you go on your way?"

Patch and Bon Bon both looked up as Slice Cake shook her head. She opened her mouth to say something, but she just ended up releasing a giant yawn. "No thank you, Knit. I'm feeling very tired tonight." She took the large white and purple bag off of her back and put it on the ground. Patch glanced at her mellow yellow friend to realize that a satchel was on her shoulder, then returned to watching the parents' exchange.

"Alright. I'll drop by with Bon Bon tomorrow morning. Drive safely."

Slice Cake nodded before putting her hoof on her daughter's shoulder. "Have a wonderful time, okay dear?"

"Yes mom."

Slice Cake smiled and pulled her daughter in for a brief, not bone-crushing hug with just one arm. Bon Bon sank into it, smiling and putting her head over her mom's shoulder.

With that, Slice Cake trotted away from the tall, dirty white house and disappeared around her light blue car. She only waved one more time before driving away.

The second that the golden-colored mare disappeared, Patch yanked Bon Bon by the neck in another hug. Bon Bon forced her friend's arms apart. Patch moved her hooves a little downwards to her shoulder area (i.e., the normal place to hug someone). Bon Bon at least tolerated it that time for a moment before pulling away again. "…Let's go."

Patch nodded and grabbed her friend by her hoof, pulling her along. In the hoof she didn't hold her ponyfriend's in, she pulled along the duffel bag along.

After a quick detour to grab the chocolate-chip cookies and milk Knit had made for them, the two went up the stairs to Patch's room and shut the door. Patch carefully put the duffel bag of her crush on the ground by her fluffy, pink-covered bed.

For a second, her friend's slightly-sweaty hoof in hers, Patch gave her room a quick scan. The wall was covered with its usual yellow and white-striped wallpaper. Her several shelves by her bedside were neatly organized with books; comics, fiction and nonfiction. The princess-style pink bed on which she slept was made to perfection, thanks to her father most likely.

And like usual, Patch felt a stab of pride when she noticed that nothing was on the floor. Her brand of messy involved disorganization, and having stuff sticking out of the dresser on the other side of the room, not having toys and what-not littering the place like most of her friends did.

Also, it was always nice having a private bathroom, the door slightly ajar with the slightly-dismantled chair sitting out front. Maturity came with having one's own place to do their business, and to keep clean.

"Alright, who knows about this entire crush thing?" Bon Bon demanded, pulling her hoof away and giving her ponyfriend a determined look. She was gonna get it out of her, no matter what.

Patch couldn't help the teasing grin that spread across her muzzle. "Wow, you sure do like cutting to the chase… Why don't we set up your sleeping bag or something first?"

Bon Bon looked away shyly for a second, as if thinking something over. Then, she looked right up at Patch. "Um…I-"

"What?" Patch asked

"Forgot the sleeping bag," Patch interrupted. Patch pulled Bon Bon's hoof closer to her and gave it a few small pats. "We kinda have choices. You could use my bag on the floor, you could take the bed while I pull out the bag for myself, or… we could just share the bed!" _Or the bag!_

Patch had no clue why the thought of sharing a bed with Bon Bon was so exciting. It wasn't like it was the first time they'd slept next to each other, or even slept while _touching_. But it was just one of those things she really didn't care to think about. "Whatever you're comfortable with."

"What do you wanna do?" Bon Bon asked, pulling her hoof away and holding it tenderly herself.

"What do _you _wanna do?" Patch retorted challengingly, her gaze hardening with determination.

Bon Bon put a hoof to her chin and frowned, anxiety spreading across her features as she grinned sheepishly in attempt to waive the feeling off. "Well… I don't want you to sleep on the floor," Bon Bon practically mumbled. "Or… to, um… put up with me in your, uh, bag, I mean bed…"

"Then sleep with me. I'm fine with it."

Bon Bon's face filled up with Cool-Aid. "O-Okay," she muttered.

Several minutes of eating cookies and drinking milk followed.

Patch smiled gently at the yellow pony across from her, who was currently stuffing her face full of cookies and sporting a pretty rockin' milk moustache. "So, what now?" Patch asked, perfectly happy to be led along.

"We arranged this originally so you could tell me how you ended up telling everyone," Bon Bon said, before wiping her moustache off with her forehoof. "M-Maybe, I was thinking, we should get started on that now."

Patch smiled challengingly. "Should I sing you a song about it?"

Bon Bon's ears folded irately. "Don't play with me, Patchwork," she warned.

Patch cringed and nodded for a second. "Got it." When Bon Bon's expression softened, Patch went on. "Starlight, Melody, Ace and Sweetheart all know. So does Teddy, and probably Lancer, my mum, Miss Hackney and Mr. Tidwell. Rosy, she's my old friend from the orphanage- I mean, a princess."

"Now answer me this…" Bon Bon leaned in closer. "How did this possibly come up in front of the boys?"

"Oh. Complicated story. It all started when you were being buddy-buddy with Teddy and I thought you were cheating on me…"

888

"YOU MEANIE! YOU PONYFRIEND STEALING MEANIE!"

Patch hurled the bright blue cushion into Teddy's face. The blue colt stood there dumbfounded at her sudden outburst, so it slid down to the ground at his hooves.

The taupe pony's eyes were glowing with rage is she picked up the second cushion from the couch and threw it at the Mohawked menace. However, Teddy was a lot better prepared that time and dodged out of the way. He glared at her and shouted, "What's WRONG with you?"

Patch hurled another pillow his way, and Teddy rolled over, effectively dodging it. Instead the cushion hit poor Lancer, who'd been poking his head over the side of an overturned blue armchair.

The dark blue colt put a shiny dinner pot on his head and shouted, "Patch, what are you talking about? I'm sure whatever he did to you was by accident!"

The tomboy totally ignored the redhead's reason and let out a vengeful roar before running at Teddy and jumping right at him. The blue colt's eyes widened with surprise as he narrowly dodged out of the way, causing Patch to fly into the chair Lancer was hiding behind. Lancer backed into a corner to get away from the raging female.

Patch ran at Teddy as quickly as she possibly could, and gave chase when he got away. But, considering he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, he wasn't planning ahead… so eventually he was cornered by the co-captain of the soccer team.

Teddy's previous rage was replaced with a wide-eyed, desperate look. "What do you want from me?!" he demanded, a rare mask of worry on his voice.

"You're a drabblemouser!" Patch yelled, moving one of her hooves to his chest. Her eyes were cold and hot at the same time as her hoof wandered just slightly upwards. "You've got a lot of nerve to manipulate Bon Bon like you are!"

Teddy gasped. "No, I didn't _manipulate _her, she likes me, honest!"

"You're a nasty girlfriend stealer! All you know how to do is wreck lives and steal candy from babies!" Patch jabbed a hoof at the boy's muzzle, booping him harshly

Despite his situation, Teddy countered, "I do _lots _of stuff!"

Memories of earlier, seeing Bon Bon have to stoop to his level and feed him strawberries and massage his joints… it just made her blood _boil. _"You tricked one of my friends…" she practically hissed.

"Hey, if you love Bon Bon so much, here's an idea: you should just marry her!"

The rage on Patch's face dissipated as her jaw fell. Her right eye twitched just slightly, as wide as Teddy's was a minute ago. Her hooves swung to her sides, sitting idle. _HE KNOWS?!_

Teddy took a step to the side, as if he was about to escape… but then an evil grin came over his features. "Huh, are you serious? You want to marry a girl?"

The blue colt laughed with mirth. Patch's face fired up as she snapped back, "Shut up, I do not!"

"Patch, you of all ponies should be able to take a joke. Teddy… keep it a joke. You're taking it too far," Lancer said, looking irritated as he took the pot off of his head.

Patch crossed her forehooves angrily and hovered over the orange-maned pony in front of her as she pointedly added, "YEAH, Teddy. Joke."

Teddy grinned with impish glee. "You're blushing and everything. Are you SURE I'm joking?"

"You want me to SHOW you a non-joke?!" Patch exclaimed, swinging her forehoof back.

Lancer approached and gently pushed Patch away. He sighed patiently. "Guys, violence is never the answer. Whether or not it's a joke" – His sharp blue gaze lingered on Patch for a moment – "we need to support each other no matter what the circumstances. That's what the Aces do, even if Ace isn't here."

"Sure. I'll call a truce if you do," Teddy suddenly said to Patch, grinning easily. "Let me take her to the dance without trouble, and if I end up hurting her, just beat me up then."

Patch still had her eyes narrowed. It was so unlike Teddy to be so, so NICE… and it had her suspicious. And besides, it was not just Bon Bon, it was HER Bon Bon. Her sweet Bon Bon. And the thought of her being swept off her hooves, away from where the peach-colored hooves that protected her, and of Bon Bon completely forgetting about her, and her fantasies of hugging her friend and having her be totally tight with it and being comfortable with someone who would never hurt her… It was a painful and irritating deal to her, so she opened her mouth to say such.

"Patch," Lancer said, his articulation of her name lengthened and warning, "what Teddy is suggesting is perfectly reasonable. Say yes or deal with me."

The taupe pony gave the dark blue colt an irritated stare at his intervention. How dare he rush her into giving up her prized, prized friend?! And he was forcing her into it, the git!

But his eyes were piercing her soul, and so she begrudgingly sighed, remembering the super spy kit she had at home, and to the handcuffs she'd fashioned to go with it. "…Fine."

888

"So, you got mad at him for implying it?"

Patch nodded, crossing her forehooves. "Yeah. I thought he was blackmailing you or something."

Bon Bon looked away and chuckled uneasily. "Yeah, blackmail..."

"You never really _did _like Teddy, didja Bon Bon?" Patch asked, a sudden note of wistfulness in her tone that she didn't intend to make. She smiled affectionately and rolled to the ground, her face right next to Bon Bon's candy-smelling flank. She pulled her friend's purple tail around herself and ran her hoof right through it.

Bon Bon looked a bit uneasy at the contact, but seemed to shrug it off as she shook her head. "No. W-well, we could be friends, he and me. But I never loved him. I just figured out, you know, Sweetheart had some weight in what she said." Bon Bon's eyes suddenly stretched wide. "Not that I particularly like him or anything! We just decided we were gonna study together, because he fails tests, I pass them-"

"Don't worry about it," Patch responded suddenly. "I was just checking, but I never asked you… why were you feeding him strawberries, calling him handsome and giving him massages if you _didn't _like him?"

"C-Can we just change the subject?" Bon Bon asked, an edge coming in her voice that implied that she wouldn't take 'no' for an answer.

Patch wasn't going to push it, anyway. Why upset Bon Bon when you could snuggle her soft and awesome tail, anyway? "Mmkay."

"Um, okay… how did this come up with Miss Hackney? Why did you even THINK of telling Mr. Tidwell?"

"Mr. Tidwell? He's actually a pretty cool old coot. We hung out and cleaned stuff up out in the playground and he guessed it. But it wasn't because I was obvious, you know, just because he has a lot of experience. He told me about that one play, and… I-I formulated a plan to dramatically declare my love."

Bon Bon blushed a bit under her coat. "Did that plan involve snogging me under the spotlights i-in front of hundreds of ponies?"

"…Yeah, I didn't think that one through," Patch admitted, letting go of Bon Bon's tail and sitting up straight. "I seriously tried telling Melody to go for the NON-star role. That was dumb, and if I'd succeeded… yeah."

Patch switched between looking at the bathroom door, the huge orange teddy bear on her bed for decoration, and her closet with some of her many clothes inside. Then, she eventually broke the silence by saying, "Well, the story behind Miss Hackney is more interesting."

"Is it?" a fully-recovered Bon Bon asked, tilting her head just slightly. She got to her hooves.

Patch nodded, following suit and slinging her hoof around Bon Bon's shoulders. The yellow pony jumped at the contact before looking at Patch. "Yeah, I'll tell ya. It was one of the last days before holiday break…"

888

Miss Hackney worked on her lesson with clear disbelief in her eyes when she glanced at Patch. For once, the taupe pony was… _playing attention… _in class. Not goofing around and listening passively, but studiously writing notes with one of the red pencils from the classroom box of them. She was grinning just slightly as she did so, too… not even with amusement, but with being genuinely interested in the use of coordinate grids.

Being professional in that case… well, she didn't truly believe Patch didn't have any ulterior motives, but at least she wasn't going to ask with narrowed eyes what she was up to. Not during class, anyway.

"So, this point here would be… negative two, three." Miss Hackney put a firm dot on the grid where said number was and looked over at the class. A few absent, as illness was abound, but otherwise everyone was paying pretty close attention and seemed to get it well enough. "Alright then, class, any questions?"

Not one of the children raised their hooves. Miss Hackney gave them an approving nod just as the cuckoo clock chimed its time: lunch and recess block.

Most of the kids had long since put away their notes, but Patch was amongst the few that had to stay behind and clean up. Miss Hackney curiously looked at the taupe pony as she put her notes away.

"Miss Hackney?"

The periwinkle teacher stopped watching the class clown to see Starlight standing in front of her desk with a bright smile on her muzzle. "Yes, Starlight?" she amiably replied.

Starlight reached into her satchel and pulled out a nice bright yellow banana and set it on the desk in front of her. "Ho ho ho, Miss Hackney!"

"Oh! Why, thank you, Starlight." Miss Hackney smiled, being reminded of the gift exchange they were having in a few days, and of the special gift she'd have to give to her favorite student the next day. "I'm honored you thought of this. "Will you be here tomorrow?"

"Of course, but I know how much you love bananas. I figured I'd give you one before I was off with my friends."

"I see. Well, I'll see you in forty five minutes, then, Starlight."

The pink pony nodded and trotted out the open door, her satchel still around her shoulder, and Miss Hackney smiled after her for a moment… before another voice said, "Um, Miss Hackney?"

She looked down and was more than a little bit surprised to see Patch standing there, smiling in a slightly self-conscious way. "Hello, Patch. I noticed that you were very attentive in class today. …Is that my very own Christmas present?"

Patch shook her head and smiled more easily. "Nah, but thanks for the tip. I'll keep that in mind when I _don't _take your gift in. Actually, I needed you to help me with something."

Miss Hackney's ears perked up. "Oh? And what would that be?" The teacher, admittedly, was _baffled _by Patch's behavior. First she pays attention in class without a fuss, and then she asks her for help with something? This would be interesting…

"I need a pass out of school for lunch today. To 6550 Small Street."

Miss Hackney thought for a moment before replying, purely baffled, "The Doe household – I mean, Bon Bon's house? Why do you need to go there?"

Patch glanced around nervously for a second before grinning self-consciously and, saying, "I said I'd drop by and say hi! I always wanna cheer my friends up when they're feeling down."

"But she is ill; her mother said that she had a terribly contagious cold. She has been trying to keep the family from getting sick, but she says that Amber is sniffling, and that she herself is feeling the effects."

Patch put her hoof on Miss Hackney's desk and gave what was supposed to be an easy grin. "Come on, Miss H, I won't get sick. I just need to see her to make sure she's doing alright."

Miss Hackney ran through everything in her mind. Patch's story simply did not compute! Her friends had been absent without her visiting them before, and she never wore a nervous, toothy grin the way she did then. "Are you sure?" was all she asked, in the most mollifying tone she could manage.

"Yes!" Patch nodded her head forcefully. "I just want to make sure she's okay, that's it!"

Miss Hackney adjusted her spectacles and reached for one of the passes she had… but she did so slowly and thoughtfully. Patch was eager to see Bon Bon even though she was home sick. She'd never been that way before. She was particularly embarrassed seeming, and clutching the edge of the desk uncertainly. Sweat was actually beading the taupe pony's forehead. She'd taken studious notes, and come to think of it… she didn't own a light blue folder like the one she'd crammed in her backpack.

But then, sharing notes was not Patch's style unless it involved passing them in class. And that wouldn't explain her nerves, and if that were the case, she would have been quicker to admit that than to admit her being worried.

She stared into Patch's dodgy golden eyes, and noted that as she did so… a slight blush erupted under her fur.

Then, the strangest idea, but the one that made the most sense occurred to Miss Hackney. What if… _what if… _"Patch, I ask this next question as a concerned friend, not as your teacher." Miss Hackney juggled around what she should say carefully. In all her years of teaching, it never once happened that she had to, as part of the job description, _ask _a student whether they were infatuated with a member of the same sex. Eventually, she just decided to be blunt. "…Do you have a crush on Bon Bon?"

Patch's eyes widened with terror as her blush intensified. "What? Me? No. Of course not! I, I'd never think of Bonnie, Buh… Bon Bon that way!"

And, with that, Patch's feelings read like a book to the senior teacher, who sighed. "You are an open book, Patch, and I assure you, nothing is wrong with feeling that way." Well, it made her feel funny, not to mention think about a certain gold-colored steed… but she quickly squelched the feelings. No, it wasn't the time.

"Shut u- Just give me the pass to see her."

Miss Hackney sighed, and pulled out a pencil, writing out the pass quickly while marking the reason blank with "family problem." The she passed it to Patch and gave her a stern look. "Patch, it is of utmost importance that you get back here on time for class. I am not keen on lying for any reason, and if you are caught troublemaking outside of class, I could lose all of my hard-earned respect. Why, I'm tempted to send Starlight your way so you don't get in trouble."

Patch sighed, weak with relief, and snatched the slip of paper out of the old teacher's hoof. "Thank you so much, Miss Hackney." Patch bent down and planted a quick kiss on Miss Hackney's forehoof. The teacher snatched her hoof away and looked more than a bit discomforted at the contact as Patch stood up straight and saluted. "I'll be back within forty five minutes, Miss Hackney ma'am! Thank you so much, see ya!"

888

"I never knew you were such a worrywart…" Bon Bon ribbed, a mischievous glint in her eyes as she winked.

Patch rolled her eyes and smiled at her friend's jest. "You should talk," she retorted, putting a hoof around her friend's back. Conveniently, she'd forgotten about kissing Miss Hackney in her retelling to Bon Bon, but she couldn't care less right then.

Bon Bon laughed before replying, "I guess. But you're so protective of us. I mean, did you _really_ think I was going to the hospital over a cold?"

"Nah. That's nothing next to the time I almost had a breakdown because you were too sick to talk on the phone." Patch smirked and crossed her forehooves while Bon Bon's eyes widened. "And here's the crazy bit: I didn't even have a crush on you then."

"Gosh..." Bon Bon put her hoof around the smaller pony's back and smiled gently, getting out of her awed state. "When _did _you develop feelings like you have anyway, Patch? I-I never thought anyone really cared like that."

Patch gave her friend an amiable grin. "Oh, not much of a story there. I take it you remember the masquerade night?"

Bon Bon shuddered. Patch inwardly hardened up at the memory and nodded. "Yeah, that night. But what I really want to hear about-" Patch put her head on Bon Bon's shoulder "-is how _you_ came to notice _me._"

The mellow yellow pony tensed under the tomboy's touch, and her face was a soft red under her fur. After a minute or two, Bon Bon's shocked, wide-eyed expression turned into a very markedly shy smile. "Alright, fine. Um, I guess it started during that prank."

888

Bon Bon's heart was reeling, still, at the thought of what had happened with Ace. How that was, she didn't know. Three full days after the entire manipulation trick with Ace, and she was STILL heartbroken. What was more was that Christmas decorations covered Ponyland's buildings and streetlights, especially the color red. If you'd looked at Bon Bon's block back in Mecklenburger, the only difference from the summertime was that ponies were wearing jackets.

But she just _couldn't _feel the holiday cheer, even when Clover was skipping in front of her, wearing a red Christmas Pony-styled hat and singing out Christmas tunes. "Fah-lah-la-lah-la, la-lah la la!"

Bon Bon, even in her terrible mood, just _couldn't _bring herself to stop her best friend's holiday cheer, so she begrudgingly tolerated her friend's bouncy steps in front of her (not to mention, her slipping on some of said steps).

"Cheer up, Bon Bon!" Clover eventually exclaimed. "Get in the Christmas spirit and sing with me! Frost-y the snowman!"

Bon Bon's ears, which were already lowered, flattened against her head as she stared irately at the grass, which was _dancing _to Clover's singing. What she wouldn't give to let Clover live with her holiday cheer with someone _else _who was exuberant about the holidays…

…Like Sweetheart in her frustration about not being able to wear mistletoe everywhere, thanks to the plant's toxicity to her cat, Springfield, and her insistence that everyone else have their own winter romances to make up for her lack thereof. And Starlight not being able to be at a club meeting because she had to decorate the Ice Cream Shop in red, green and gold.

As a matter of fact, Melody was trying to write "the best song yet" and wasn't hanging out much with anyone at all… So maybe she _was _the best one to have to tolerate it, but come on! She still didn't feel like it.

Clove halted her singing and pointed toward the clearing… which was the home to a certain UFO. One that made Bon Bon raise an eyebrow curiously.

She and her friends, along with Clover's dad, had built it to get revenge on Patch for her tricks. Eventually, Patch went on and on about improvements that could be made to the thing and it actually sounded INTERESTING to Bon Bon, so she sat in and helped out with the improvements before her cookies ran out and duty (read: her stomach) called.

But clearly, more had been made since then. It wasn't just a new coat of paint or the glowing bridge. The sun was already sinking behind the metallic thing, so darkness normally would have covered it…

…Had it not been for the creepy purple light coming up from below it and the flashing lights along the saucer part, replacing the Christmas bulbs that had been there before. Imposing metal legs extended from the bottom of the spaceship, almost doubling its height.

Bon Bon stopped her shocked staring as Clover pulled her mane just slightly. "Come on, Bon Bon, we have to hide!"

The two dashed into the nearest bush and bent down, looking through a gap in the leaves. Bon Bon's hoof went into a familiar texture, and when she looked over at where her hoof was, she noticed… a notice. In the middle of a large blue bowl filled to the brim with buttered popcorn.

She picked out the note and instantly recognized Patch's hoofwriting. _Enjoy the show, _the note said, with a little pink heart and a patch at the end.

After glancing rapidly between the two objects and puzzling over what it meant, she heard the sound of a very familiar voice: "Smartest pony in Ponyland you are."

Starlight's alien voice. So, Patch had arranged the prank to be pulled on the ponies she had in mind. But how was _that _so-

"Of course I am. My name _is _Ace after all."

Bon Bon's eyes widened as the last piece of the puzzle fell into place.

Patch had set up the whole thing, done all of those improvements, to get back at Ace for what he did to her. And she'd thought to let her watch it live.

_G-Gosh… _Bon Bon couldn't help the soft smile that spread across her muzzle, and the warm and fuzzy feeling that ran from her heart, which suddenly beat on overdrive. Patch had really thought of little ole HER when she doubled the height of the spaceship? When she'd repainted the surface area of the metal disc? …W-When she'd popped the popcorn just the way she liked it and told her to _enjoy the show?_

Bon Bon was jarred out of her reflection when a loud, creepy riff of music played out… and green smoke emerged from the entrance as a silhouette of a pony appeared. A pony with a custom-made alien costume with an extra-long cape and a long, unponylike snout. The two underling aliens bowed down to the supreme commander, as Ace said in awe, "Whoa… you're the leader of the aliens?"

A voice that could only be an altered version of Patch's male voice replied, "Yes earthling. I am Marsthan, the leader of the aliens. And I have a prophecy foreth you…"

888

Bon Bon smiled timidly, looking away from the pony whose head was still resting on her shoulder.

"It was that night that I figured something out, see," Bon Bon continued, looking away. Shyness, but not hesitance was evident in her tone. "I was trying to think things through that night. I felt closer with you, and I was wondering _why _you did what you did. I thought that it might be because of the rush of the prank, but I realized something."

"T-That you liked me like that?" Patch guessed, raising an eyebrow.

"No. That you didn't pull that prank because you just loved doing pranks, but because you cared a great deal about me. The effort you put into it had me thinking, b-but it was really the thought behind it. Pranking Ace was great, but there were the small things, like the popcorn being just the way I liked it, and filming the whole thing for me so I could watch it all over again, that told me that you are someone I can, umm… kinda-sorta trust. I thought that having a tough time speaking was part of that kind of trust, but… I didn't realize it was different than she other until Cookie." Bon Bon shook her head and groaned. "I mean, Spinner! I'm sorry. We're friends, and he likes me to call him Cookie, a-and I think it has something to do with this entire weird-crush thing, and-"

Patch put a hoof over Bon Bon's mouth and rolled her eyes. Then she giggled. "It's okay. We aren't gonna get cheesy and give each other pet names, are we?"

Bon Bon grinned a bit impishly. "No thanks. Your name is too short to make into a pet name anyway, Patchy."

"Heh, oh you." Patch reached up and gave the bigger pony's hair a good ruffle. "Bon Bon, I love you," she added with an unintentional note of affection in her voice.

Bon Bon's playful smile melted off her muzzle like an ice cream cone at the center of the earth. Patch continued giving her smile to Bon Bon in hopes that the corners of her mouth would turn up again… but they didn't. "Patch, I'm not comfortable saying those words yet. I mean, w-we just got together yesterday!"

The taupe pony frowned at the revelation, but then shrugged. "It's fine." Patch nodded and smiled. Yeah, even if that was a, for lack of a better word, a 'problem,' it'd be one that would be worked through. Both of them, working together to get rid of some of Bon Bon's tension… drool-worthy thought. "It'll be something we work on together."

Bon Bon nodded and smiled sweetly. "Thanks for understanding Patch. Erm, before we get on to the activities of the night… I need to write something about all of this in my diary."

"Of course," Patch replied with a nod. She happened to glance at the plate of cookies and milk that sat on the ground a little ways away, noting that the only sillage of what delicious delicacies were there being an undrunk milk glass (darn it mom, why didn't you make two glasses?!) and a few crumbs on the shiny white surface. She grinned and motioned towards it. "Uh, I'll get some more cookies and a second glass of milk. See ya in a bit."

Patch gave the milk glass and plate a good look, narrowing her eyes and inspecting the surface carefully before putting the plate on her head and the cup on her back. For good measure, she flashed Bon Bon a playful wink.

Not that she saw it, though. She had already plucked her diary out of her bag and was started fumbling through the pages.

_Classic Bon Bon. _Patch rolled her eyes and slowly, carefully trotted out of the room.

888

_VORFREUDE_

_Dear diary,_

_I'd like to title this entry "Vorfreude," if you don't mind. Because, honestly, that's what I'm feeling right now. Of course we remember when I wrote out that other entry. You know the one. I walked into this sleepover just a bit hesitant, but excited._

_That doesn't fit 'vorfreude.' So let me give it to you straight… I LOVE this sleepover! Patch is making me feel special in all the right ways. She's just telling me about some of the times she messed up telling me how I feel, and it has been a long time she's liked me._

_Well, I have mixed feelings about one or two of them, but she's being to sweet. I remembered the story about the UFO and how I fell for her, and… she's just being awesome… I really like her._

_This sounds like a horrible cliché from one of Sweetheart's stories. But there's a special spark when I'm around Patch. I know I said the same thing about Ace, but… I don't know. I mean, Patch loves me back, unlike him, and she's just wonderful._

_It's just, I don't know. It seems too good to be true. I'm uber-looking forward to whatever comes next, but… but, at the same time, I wonder what will happen when she eventually loses interest in me. It'll happen eventually. So far it sounds like she really likes me, but Ace seemed that way too._

_I don't know. I think I shouldn't think about it like that, I know. I'm just so excited for the future – that's where the title of this entry comes in – that I can't help but hope this is love. I just want to finish this entry so I can spend more time with her, though, so I'll talk to you later. I'm just having so much fun!_

_With love and rare optimism,_

_Bon Bon_

888

…Aaand we fade to black here. For the sleepover, you guys may think of what kinds of things happened for yourselves! I personally think a lot of playful banter and little pony games ensued. Unintentional snuggles? Kisses? Heart-to-heart moments? Whatever floats your boat happened at this sleepover.

Thank you guys for reading the story, though. On my profile I have a LIVE story progress spot where I'll comment on the progress of each work-in-progress fic. No spoilers, though, so no worries! But that's not all it's there for! Are you anonymous and don't want to leave a review? You can talk anonymously with me there! Have a request? Tell me there. Want to have an instant conversation? We can arrange a time.

There'll be a lot more Tales abound, PatchBon and otherwise, in the near future. So stay tuned!


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